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Report: Fear of increase in child poverty in NI

Koulla Yiasouma warns the impact of austerity measures will plunge more children further into poverty
Koulla Yiasouma warns the impact of austerity measures will plunge more children further into poverty Koulla Yiasouma warns the impact of austerity measures will plunge more children further into poverty

THE impact of austerity measures will plunge more children in Northern Ireland further into poverty, the children's commissioner has warned.

It comes as the UK's four children's commissioners joined forces to urge the British government - including the Northern Ireland Executive - to halt its programme of benefit cuts to prevent more young people being pushed into poverty.

In a joint report to the UN, they warn child poverty rates in the UK are "unacceptably high" and there has been a failure to protect those from most disadvantaged backgrounds.

Koulla Yiasouma, the north's commissioner, said: "The government's expenditure plans run the risk of having a further huge impact on child poverty here.

"We already know that levels of persistent child poverty are higher in Northern Ireland and now there are potentially more measures that will hit vulnerable families the hardest.

"What is sometimes forgotten in the debate around protecting children from poverty is that 61 per cent of children who are growing up in poverty across the UK live in a family where at least one parent is working.

"Recent figures demonstrate that the number of children living in absolute poverty has increased by 3 per cent in the last year."

Ms Yiasouma said: "It is frustrating that since the UN committee last reported on the UK in 2008, including Northern Ireland, many of the recommendations have not yet been taken forward.

"For example child and adolescent mental health services are woefully under-funded in Northern Ireland.

"Out of the total budget for mental health services eight per cent is spent on children and young people who need these services.

"It can be no surprise that more children and young people in Northern Ireland self-harm and take their own lives than in any other part of the UK."