Latest Channel 4 News:
Subo album set for a sales record
£61.6bn emergency funds for banks
Netanyahu: No captive swap deal yet
US TV to make Susan Boyle programme
Bank reveals £61.6bn RBS/HBOS loans

To Hull and back, a tale of poverty

Updated on 09 June 2008

By Sue Turton

Sue Turton reports from one Hull estate to find out whether people there really see themselves as poor.

In a damning report into the state of Britain's children the UK Children's Commissioners have savaged Britain's approach to children in the areas of youth justice, schools, stress and drugs.

But today's report to the UN singles out one of New Labour's key aims, child poverty. The report says it is "unacceptable" that "3.8 million children" are living in relative poverty, with as many as "1.3 million children" living in severe poverty



In 1997 Tony Blair committed to halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.

To set their target they used a European Measure, those living in poverty are households where income is less than 60 per cent of median income. That comes in at around £18,000.

Initially Labour made good progress, but last year the number of children in poverty actually went up. And tomorrow the official figures are expected to confirm the government is falling further behind its target.

FactCheck: is poverty history?

Gordon Brown has used successive PMQs to make some dubious poverty boasts. On the eve of the latest figures, FactCheck assesses Labour's record.
Read more

This week Channel 4 News will be scrutinising why the United Kingdom still lags behind other countries; what can be done about it and perhaps fundamentally if the target is worthwhile.

In a society with widespread ownership of cars, mobile phones, Sky dishes, is poverty a useful term any more?

Tomorrow we will be focusing on the figures themselves, but tonight Channel 4 News has been finding out from the people who meet the statistical poverty profile whether they consider themselves poor.

We visited the Orchard Park estate in Hull, where 55 per cent of families are out of work and on benefits - that's double the national average.

Send this article by email

More on this story

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.


Watch the Latest Channel 4 News

Watch Channel 4 News when you want

Latest Business & Money news

More News blogs

View RSS feed

Vauxhall not for sale

Vauxhall (Credit: Reuters)

Workers at two Vauxhall plants face an uncertain future.

Postal strike

A pillar box (picture: Reuters)

Which people are affected most by the CWU walkout?

The price of being green

image

Would you pay green taxes to combat climate change?

Windows v the internet?

A Windows logo (picture: Getty Images)

Are online applications the biggest competition for Windows 7?

Faisal Islam on Twitter

faisalislam

Has the IMF pulled the rug out from under David Cameron? http://bit.ly/8893SZ

Yesterday at 11:33

Follow us

How to tweet

How and why to follow the Channel 4 News family on Twitter.

Week in pictures

credit: Reuters

A selection of the best pictures from around the world.




Channel 4 © 2009. Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of external websites.