MoneySavingExpert.com homepage
Cutting your costs, fighting your corner
Founder, Martin Lewis · Editor-in-Chief, Marcus Herbert
Search bar closed.
vote-grey

What counts as child poverty in the UK?

22 November 2010

Poll started 23 November 2010: What counts as child poverty in the UK? We're working with Save the Children on this, it's a tougher question than you think. The headline measure in the Child Poverty Act defines child poverty as those children in a household with under 60% of median average income. This is because some people argue that in developed countries, poverty is a relative condition. Others say no food, shelter or clothing is a better, absolute measure. Please select ALL you think count as poverty

pollDefault.jpg

Poll started 23 November 2010: What counts as child poverty in the UK?

We're working with Save the Children on this, it's a tougher question than you think. The headline measure in the Child Poverty Act defines child poverty as those children in a household with under 60% of median average income. This is because some people argue that in developed countries, poverty is a relative condition. Others say no food, shelter or clothing is a better, absolute measure.

Please select ALL you think count as poverty

Results

A child sharing a room with someone of different gender 2,864 votes (27 %)
A child without their own bed 8,018 votes (75 %)
A family income below £10,500 a year (50% of the average) 4,462 votes (42 %)
A home with no heating 8,071 votes (76 %)
A lack of food, shelter or clothing 10,206 votes (96 %)
Family income below £12,700 a year (60% of the average) 3,091 votes (29 %)
Kids that get free school meals 1,573 votes (15 %)
Kids with fewer than two pairs of shoes 2,214 votes (21 %)
No access to school trips (though often schools will subsidise) 2,562 votes (24 %)
No annual holiday 1,255 votes (12 %)
No laptop or internet access 1,004 votes (9 %)
No TV 2,026 votes (19 %)
Parents can’t afford to save £10+ a month for rainy days/retirement 2,947 votes (28 %)
Parents regularly behind with paying household bills 3,406 votes (32 %)

10,661 people have selected 53,699 options (percentages are the number who voted for that topic of the total people who have voted, so won't add up to 100%).

We try to use technology to limit voting to one per person. Occasionally, this may erroneously block a few people's votes (eg, from shared offices). Apologies for that.

MSE Forum

Discuss this poll

Forum image
Tools and calculators

Clever ways to calculate your finances

Find your odds of getting top cards
Find your odds for getting a cheap loan
Compare broadband, phone & TV deals
Compares thousands of mortgages
Eight calcs to help you work out the cost
We ensure you’re on the cheapest tariff