ONE in six children in Northumberland were living in poverty last year, new figures show.

Children’s charity Barnardo’s said youngsters “can’t be happy and healthy if they are going to bed in a cold home, on an empty stomach”.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 8,800 Northumberland children aged under 16 were living in relative poverty in the year to March 2023.

It meant 17 per cent of children in the area were in a family whose income was below 60 per cent of average household income before housing costs. They also claimed child benefit and at least one other household benefit.

This was down from 21.3 per cent the year before and lower than the UK rate of 20.1 per cent.

Of all the children facing poverty in Northumberland, 2,685 were below school age.

Lynn Perry MBE, CEO of Barnardo’s, said: “The Government needs to urgently focus on reducing child poverty.

“That should start with a strategy for ending child poverty, including ending the two-child limit ‘sibling penalty’ on benefit payments and ensuring struggling families can afford essentials like food and household bills.”

The Government will extend the Household Support Fund in April as part of a support package for those most in need.