We ignore poverty in London at our peril

One in five of England's poor children live in the capital and housing poverty will only get worse as benefit cuts hit
child poverty
Child poverty costs the UK at least £25bn a year, with a large proportion of that in London. Public Domain

For children living in poverty, London is the worst region in England to grow up. Children living in poverty in London are more likely than their contemporaries in the rest of the country to go without everyday essentials.

The problem of child poverty in London affects the whole of the country. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that child poverty costs the UK at least £25bn a year, and a large part of that poverty is in London.

We cannot make a dent in UK poverty unless we crack it in London – one in five of England's poor children live in the capital.

Most people will not be surprised to find that London's house prices are driving its problems. This is not just about rich Russians coming in and forcing everyone else out of the property market. It's about building enough homes for ordinary families. And it's about the cuts to housing benefit, which will disproportionately affect London. In parts of London, people renting one- and two-bedroom homes will need to find an extra £35 a week.

Looking into our crystal ball, we predict that this will change the face of the capital. It means that people on lower incomes will have to make tough choices: either stay in inner London and face overcrowding and increased hardship as rent eats up more and more of your income; or move to outer London, where public services are already stretched so you will have to wait even longer for doctor's appointments and struggle to get your child a school place.

Low wages are also a huge driver of London's problems. Almost a million people in London are not paid a living wage. This means that they do not earn enough to cover basic living costs. The retail sector is one of London's largest employers and yet, along the whole of Oxford Street, only two employers pay the living wage. While politicians are signing up to the living wage campaign, the people who actually pay the wages, the employers, are not.

It might seem unrealistic to expect anyone to care about poverty when the world economy is tanking and we are all feeling the squeeze. But ignoring poverty ignores its cost to everyone. If we could just crack this, then we would all be wealthier, healthier and happier, and surely that is something everyone wants.

Bharat Mehta is chief executive of Trust for London; London's Poverty Profile is published on Thursday