More than one in three children living in Wales were trapped below the poverty line during the first year of the Covid pandemic, according to new estimates published by the End Child Poverty coalition. Even when families across the UK benefited from a temporary increase to universal credit, child poverty rates in Wales remained stubbornly high.

Figures for Powys reveal that 33.3 per cent - or 6880 - of children in the county were living in poverty in 2020/1.

In Newport, where figures were the highest, more than 36 per cent of children are living in poverty, with Monmouthshire recording the best figures, despite seeing 27 per cent of children living beneath the line.

Members of the End Child Poverty coalition in Wales - including Child Poverty Action Group, Save the Children and Children in Wales - are calling on the UK government to ensure benefits permanently keep pace with inflation, not just through the one-off measures announced by the former Chancellor in May. They are also calling on the Welsh Government to implement a new child poverty strategy and delivery plan as a matter of urgency.

The new research by Loughborough University, on behalf of the End Child Poverty coalition, shows that the headline rate of child poverty across the UK fell during 2020/21, primarily as a result of the temporary £20 a week uplift to universal credit brought in during the pandemic. However, most local authorities in Wales continued to experience high rates of child poverty.

Sean O’Neill, Policy Director at Children in Wales said: “Although the powers to tackle child poverty do not completely rest in Wales, the Welsh Government should accelerate its efforts to avoid yet more children being swept up into poverty in the months to come.

“This is a national crisis. Tackling the cost-of-living increases and preventing more families falling below the breadline has to be the number one priority, and a revised Child Poverty Strategy should be published without further delay.”