POVERTY IN THE WEST MIDLANDS

34 per cent of children in the West Midlands (420,000) are living in poverty, compared to 30 per cent in the UK. In the West Midlands 22 per cent of working-age people (740,000) and 16 per cent of pensioners (180,000) are living in poverty. Overall, 24 per cent of people in the West Midlands are living in poverty (1.3 million people). 

Valerie Vaz MP said:

“Behind each statistic there are millions of lives in the West Midlands marked by the stress, pain and disruption of living in poverty.

There is something seriously wrong when the number of people in work and in poverty is increasing faster than employment.

Increasing numbers of children are growing up in poverty as their parents are unable to escape insecure work and low pay.

This is proof, right here, that the Tories are failing the people of the West Midlands.

Labour will end the social security freeze, introduce a £10 per hour Real Living Wage and build the affordable housing so desperately needed to lift people out of poverty.”