The UK Government says that children are living in poverty if their families earn less than 60% of the 'Normal National Income’.
This is equivalent of two children living with a single parent/carer who earns less than £256 per week (Most households earn £247 per week) or two parents/carers who earn less than £348 per week (most of these households earn £580 per week)
Nearly 4 million children are living in poverty in the UK (after housing costs) and this is predicted to increase right through until 2020. Your local authority is the frontline for tackling poverty in your local community. Every local authority has been given a duty by the government to cooperate to reduce and mitigate the effects of child poverty.
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People make requests to their local council about child poverty known as a freedom of information (FOI) request.
The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to ask any public body for all the information they have on any subject you choose. Unless there’s a good reason, the organisation must provide the information within 20 working days.
Everyone can make a request for information – there are no restrictions on your age, nationality, or where you live.
You can ask for any information at all - but some information might be withheld to protect various interests which are allowed for by the Act. If this is case, the public authority must tell you why they have withheld information.
If you ask for information about yourself, then your request will be handled under the Data Protection Act.