Child poverty characteristics in the Greater West of England, 2023/24

7 Jul 2026

This data insight describes the characteristics of children living in poverty before housing costs (BHC) in the Greater West of England (GWE), and how these patterns have changed over time. It highlights how child poverty varies across age groups, family types and economic activity, showing that poverty is not experienced uniformly across the population. The data reveal which groups are most affected as well as shifts in these patterns in recent years. Together, these insights provide a clearer picture of who is most affected by child poverty and how these patterns are evolving across the region.

The indicators cover the Greater West of England and the UK based on the latest available data for 2024/25. The Greater West of England is a bespoke geography defined here as Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.

The analysis is based on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Children in Low Income Families (CiLIF) dataset, accessed via Stat-Xplore. Figures are derived from administrative tax and benefit records and measure children living in households with incomes below 60% of the contemporary median, before housing costs. Poverty rates for parliamentary constituencies and wards are calculated using mid-year 2024 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

55.3%

Percentage of children in poverty in the Greater West of England that live in lone-parent families

71.6%

Percentage of children in poverty in the Greater West of England that live in working families

49%

Highest ward child poverty rate in the Greater West of England (Bristol), 2024/25

23.9%

Bristol East: highest constituency child poverty rate in the Greater West of England, 2024/25

Characteristics of the Greater West of England children in poverty, 2024/25

This visualisation shows the percentage of children in relative poverty Before Housing Costs (BHC) in the Greater West of England in 2024/25. Comparisons are made with UK averages across age group, family type and work status.

The data suggest that child poverty rates in the Greater West of England broadly mirror national patterns, particularly by age group, where differences between the Greater West of England and the UK are minimal (~30% for 5-10 and 11-15 year olds in both areas). This indicates that age-related poverty risk is relatively consistent across the region and nationally.

However, more notable differences appear by family type and work status. Across both regions, lone-parent families experience higher poverty rates compared to couple families.

There is a high proportion of children in poverty who live in working families; 71.6% in the Greater West of England versus 68.8% in the UK.

Recent changes in child poverty by characteristic

This visualisation shows the three-year change in the number of children in relative poverty before housing costs in the Greater West of England, 2021/22 – 2024/25. The data are broken down by age group, family type and work status. It reveals an increase in child poverty in the last three years in the Greater West of England. This increase is not evenly distributed across characteristics.

The largest increase was among 11-15 year olds (+3,743), followed by 5-10 year olds (+2,550) and 16-19 year olds (+2,128). The number of children aged 0-4 in poverty fell by 42 over the period.

The number of children in relative poverty increased more among lone-parent families (+8,239) than among couple families (+135) over the period.

The number of children in poverty in working families increased by 8,933 over the period, while the number in non-working families fell by 556.

Child poverty by parliamentary constituency in the Greater West of England, 2024/25

This visualisation shows the relative child poverty rate before housing costs (BHC) for children aged 0-15 across the 27 parliamentary constituencies in the Greater West of England, 2024/25.

Rates ranged from 7.5% in North Somerset to 23.9% in Bristol East, a spread of 16.4 percentage points (pp).

Bristol constituencies recorded three of the four highest rates: Bristol East (23.9%), Bristol South (21.3%) and Bristol North East (19.4%). Gloucester (20.4%) was the highest-rated constituency outside Bristol. Forest of Dean (18.9%), Weston-super-Mare (17.3%) and Swindon South (17%) each recorded rates of at least 17%.

At the lower end, Bath (9.4%), Filton and Bradley Stoke (9.6%) and North East Somerset and Hanham (9.8%) all recorded rates below 10%, with North Somerset (7.5%) the lowest across the region.

Ward-level child poverty in the Greater West of England, 2024/25

This visualisation shows the highest, median and lowest ward child poverty rates before housing costs (BHC) for children aged 0-15 across each local authority in the Greater West of England, 2024/25. The UK national rate of 19.3% is included for reference.

Bristol recorded the highest individual ward rate in the Greater West of England (49%), and the widest spread within a single local authority from 2.3% at the lowest ward to 49% at the highest, a range of 46.7 percentage points (pp).

Gloucestershire (34.4%), North Somerset (30.6%), Swindon (29.6%) and Wiltshire (26%) also recorded highest ward rates above 25%. The highest ward rate in each local authority exceeded the UK reference of 19.3%, with the exception of South Gloucestershire (17.6%).

Median ward rates ranged from 9.1% in Bath and North East Somerset to 16.5% in Bristol. Swindon recorded the highest lowest-ward rate (8.5%), compared with rates of 2.3% - 5.1% across the other local authorities.