Poverty
Northern Ireland
Iris Robinson (Strangford, DUP)
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children living in the province are estimated to be living in poverty, broken down by (a) Northern Ireland local government district and (b) parliamentary constituency.
Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Basildon, Labour)
The following tables show the numbers and percentages of children in Northern Ireland living in relative income poverty before housing costs and after housing costs across (a) local government districts (table 1) and (b) parliamentary constituencies (table 2). Due to small sample sizes in individual years, it was necessary to combine data for the years 2002–03 and 2003–04 to enable analysis. The figures presented in the tables are the most up to date currently held by Northern Ireland Government.
| Relative poverty before housing costs | Relative poverty after housing costs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local government district | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage |
| Ards | 1,700 | 13 | 1,900 | 15 |
| Armagh | 1,300 | 9 | 2,000 | 14 |
| Ballymena | 4,400 | 23 | 4,800 | 25 |
| Banbridge | 2,400 | 17 | 2,400 | 17 |
| Belfast | 14,700 | 26 | 15,200 | 27 |
| Castlereagh | 2,100 | 14 | 3,500 | 23 |
| Coleraine | 6,500 | 37 | 6,300 | 36 |
| Craigavon | 7,100 | 24 | 7,100 | 24 |
| Derry | 9,200 | 32 | 9,100 | 32 |
| Downpatrick | 2,500 | 12 | 3,900 | 19 |
| Dungannon | 3,100 | 20 | 4,900 | 32 |
| Fermanagh | 4,300 | 23 | 5,200 | 28 |
| Lisburn | 3,400 | 15 | 4,100 | 18 |
| Newry and Mourne | 4,700 | 25 | 4,900 | 26 |
| Newtownabbey | 1,900 | 7 | 4,700 | 18 |
| North Down | 2,900 | 14 | 4,200 | 21 |
| Cookstown and Magherafelt(57) | 5,200 | 38 | 6,600 | 48 |
| Larne and Moyle(57) | 3,300 | 35 | 3,100 | 33 |
| Omagh and Strabane(57) | 6,600 | 30 | 8,400 | 38 |
| Other(58) | 7,400 | 18 | 7,800 | 19 |
| All | 95,00 | 22 | 110,500 | 25 |
(57) Local government districts combined due to sample size requirements.
(58) Remaining local government districts (of Antrim, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, and Limavady) combined due to small sample sizes.
Source:
Households Below Average Income 2002–03 and 2003–04 Department for Social Development.
| Relative poverty before housing costs | Relative poverty after housing costs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary constituency | Number | Constituency | Number | Constituency |
| Belfast East | 3,500 | 23 | 4,200 | 29 |
| Belfast North | 5,300 | 29 | 5,200 | 28 |
| Belfast South | 2,100 | 17 | 2,900 | 24 |
| Belfast West | 5,900 | 24 | 6,900 | 28 |
| East Antrim | 2,900 | 16 | 3,700 | 20 |
| East Londonderry | 8,000 | 30 | 7,600 | 29 |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 7,100 | 22 | 9,500 | 30 |
| Foyle | 9,200 | 32 | 9,200 | 32 |
| Lagan Valley | 2,900 | 13 | 3,300 | 15 |
| Mid Ulster | 5,600 | 34 | 7,300 | 44 |
| Newry and Armagh | 4,500 | 20 | 5,600 | 25 |
| North Antrim | 8,000 | 24 | 8,500 | 25 |
| North Down | 2,800 | 13 | 4,200 | 20 |
| South Antrim | 4,800 | 14 | 6,500 | 20 |
| South Down | 5,600 | 17 | 7,000 | 22 |
| Strangford | 2,400 | 12 | 2,600 | 13 |
| Upper Bann | 8,000 | 21 | 7,900 | 21 |
| West Tyrone | 6,600 | 30 | 8,500 | 38 |
| All | 95,000 | 22 | 110,500 | 25 |
Source:
Households Below Average Income 2002–03 and 2003–04 Department for Social Development.
Notes to tables:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred and percentages to the nearest whole number.
2. As with any sample survey the numbers and percentages quoted in the table above are subject to sampling error.
3. Data was sourced from Households Below Average Income Northern Ireland (HBAI NI). The HBAI NI is based on information collected from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS was first run in NI in 2002–03.
4. The HBAI is the main source of income poverty measures throughout the UK and is used to monitor the United Kingdom's child poverty targets.
5. Relative income poverty is defined as households who have an income less than 60 per cent. of the contemporary median income.
6. Income before housing costs (BHC) includes the following main components: usual net earnings from employment; profit or loss from self-employment (losses are treated as a negative income); all Social security benefits (including housing benefit, social fund, maternity, funeral and community care grants but excluding social fund loans) and tax credits; income from occupational and private pensions; investment income; maintenance payments, if a person receives them directly; income from educational grants and scholarships (including, for students, top up loans and parental contributions); the cash value of certain forms of income in kind (free school meals, free welfare milk, free school milk and free TV licence for those aged 75 and over).
7. Income is net of the following items: income tax payments; national insurance contributions; domestic rates (this includes water and sewerage charges for Northern Ireland); contributions to occupational pension schemes (including all additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) to occupational pension schemes, and any contributions to personal pensions); all maintenance and child support payments, which are deducted from the income of the person making the payment and parental contributions to students living away from home.
8. Income After Housing Costs (AHC) is derived by deducting a measure of housing costs from BHC income measure. Housing costs include the following: rent (gross of housing benefit); domestic rates; mortgage interest payments (net of tax relief); structural insurance premiums (for owner occupiers); ground rent and service charges.