Sturgeon suffers humiliating blow as own constituency has UK’s worst rate of child poverty

Nicola Sturgeon addresses Glasgow waste collection issues

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The First Minister’s Southside seat covers the Govanhill West area of the Scottish city, which saw child poverty rates hit 69 percent. Adding insult to injury, the constituency is closely followed by neighbouring Govanhill East which currently sees 58 percent of its children living in poverty.

The First Minister, responsible for multiple areas also saw three other constituencies overseen by her fall into the top ten worst areas in Britain.

Stathbungo, Pollokshaws East and Pollokshaws West came in third, fifth and tenth respectively.

Ms Sturgeon has been accused of failing her constituents following the news.

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Politicians are supposed to stand up for the area that elected them.

“On the basis of these figures, the First Minister’s constituents have reason to be doubly aggrieved.

“They are being failed by their local representative and by the leader of the country.

“It is scandalous that, after 15 years of SNP governance, the number of people in poverty is on the rise.”

Scottish Labour spokeswoman for social justice and security, Pam Duncan-Glancy, added: “What a damning indictment of the SNP’s record on child poverty this is.

“After 15 years in government, child poverty is still rising – even in the FM’s own constituency.”

Margo Uprichard, chief executive of Govanhill-based charity the Louise Project, which helps struggling families, said: “Poverty is endemic in Govanhill.

“Over the course of this year, people who are already in poverty are going to suffer greatly.

“We are not in the eye of the storm yet but it is coming.

“We have always had families in crisis in Govanhill but the poverty is going to get worse.”

On the opposite end of the scale, Murrayfield in Edinburgh and St Andrew both saw poverty rates at only 1 percent each, making them some of the most affluent areas in the country.

Reports from the Reach PLC Data Unit highlighted the fact 175,009 children in Scotland were below the breadline in March last year, a big rise from 158,781 in March 2015.

A total of 107,507 children living in poverty last year in Scotland had at least one working parent.

This equates to around 61 percent of those in poverty.

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John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “It is worrying that many of the children affected have full-time working parents.

“This shows many jobs are failing to pay a living wage.”

Charities have warned child poverty is likely to worsen with soaring food and energy costs and the axing of the £20 increase in Universal Credit last October.

According to the charity “End Child Poverty” the UK has around 4.3 million children living in poverty,

The figures equate to around 9 children out of every 30 in an average classroom.

London has the highest rates across the UK as a whole.

Is Nicola Sturgeon to blame for child poverty in her region? Is child poverty a wider UK problem? Why, as a developed nation, does Britain suffer from child poverty? Let us know what you think by CLICKING HERE and joining the debate in our comments section below – Every Voice Matters!

46 percent of children from black and minority ethnic families are growing up in poverty, compared with 26 percent of children in white British families.

According to the charity, “Families experience poverty for many reasons, but its fundamental cause is not having enough money to cope with the circumstances in which they are living.

“A family might move into poverty because of a rise in living costs, a drop in earnings through job loss or benefit changes.”

The financial costs of child poverty are also of grave concern.

It is estimated by the charity to cost at least £29 billion a year.

It states: “Governments forgo prospective revenues as well as commit themselves to provide services in the future if they fail to address child poverty in the here and now.”

The SNP have been contacted by Express.co.uk for comment.

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