inequality
population
Child poverty before housing costs in the Greater West of England (children aged 0-15)
This data insight explores child poverty in the Greater West of England before housing costs (BHC) across the Greater West of England, focusing on children aged under 16.
The data present comparisons with the Greater West of England and other combined authority areas. The UK average is also given for context.
The Greater West of England is defined here as Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.
The figures are drawn from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Children in Low Income Families (CiLIF) dataset, accessed via Stat-Xplore, which uses administrative tax and benefit records to estimate the proportion of children living in low-income households. Rates are calculated as a percentage of the relevant child population cohort and exclude children in families with no recourse to public funds or those not living in private households. Child poverty is defined as the proportion of dependent children living in households below 60% of the contemporary median income, measured before housing costs.
Differences between percentages are given in percentage points (pp).
+4.71 pp
UK child poverty rate BHC (19.29%) is higher than the Greater West of England average (14.58%)
19.72%
Bristol has the highest child poverty rate BHC in the Greater West of England
16.29%
Greater West of England child poverty BHC reached its highest rate in 2022/23
34.36%
Child poverty in the East Midlands (34.36%) is more than double that in York and North Yorkshire (14.48%)
Child poverty before housing costs (ages 0-15)
This visualisation shows the percentage of children aged 0-15 living in households with an income below 60% of the contemporary median income before housing costs (BHC). The data are for the Greater West of England and its constituent local authorities in 2024/25. The UK average is given for comparison.
Child poverty BHC is not evenly distributed across the Greater West of England. The Greater West of England rate (14.58%) was lower than the UK average (19.29%) in 2024/25. Bristol (19.72%) was above the UK rate, whereas Bath and North East Somerset (10.16%) and South Gloucestershire (11.15%) recorded lower rates.
The gap between the highest (Bristol, 19.72%) and lowest (Bath and North East Somerset, 10.16%) local authority rates was 9.56 percentage points (pp) in the Greater West of England.
Swindon (16.03%) and Gloucestershire (15.09%) were closer to the regional average of 14.58%.
In 2024/25, rates across local authorities in the Greater West of England ranged from 10.16% in Bath and North East Somerset to 19.72% in Bristol.
Recent trends in child poverty before housing costs (ages 0-15)
This visualisation shows trends in the child poverty rate before housing costs (BHC) in the Greater West of England and the UK, 2021/22-2024/25.
Child poverty BHC rose in both areas between 2021/22 and 2022/23, before falling in 2023/24 and 2024/25. The UK recorded higher rates than the Greater West of England in each year.
The Greater West of England rate rose from 14.44% in 2021/22 to 16.29% in 2022/23, before falling to 14.58% in 2024/25. The UK rate rose from 19.48% in 2021/22 to 21.58% in 2022/23, before falling to 19.29% in 2024/25.
The gap between the UK and Greater West of England rates ranged from 4.71 to 5.29 percentage points (pp) over the period.
Child poverty before housing costs, geographic comparisons (ages 0-15)
This visualisation shows the child poverty rates before housing costs (BHC) in the Greater West of England, 2024/25. Comparisons are made with other combined authority areas in England and with the UK overall.
Child poverty BHC was not evenly distributed across combined authority areas in 2024/25. The UK average was 19.29%. Areas in the North and Midlands recorded higher rates, including the East Midlands (34.36%), West Midlands (33.36%) and West Yorkshire (29.59%).
Areas such as York and North Yorkshire (14.48%), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (16.9%) and the West of England (17.95%) recorded rates below the UK average, and were closer to the Greater West of England rate of 14.58%.
