More than one in three children living in poverty

More than a third of children in the West Midlands are living in poverty, new data has revealed.

Across Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, 36% of children are affected by deprivation, with it rising to 62% in the Ladywood area of Birmingham.

The data was revealed in the West Midlands State of the Region 2026 annual review, which was presented to the West Midlands Combined Authority's (WMCA) Local Scrutiny Committee.

"While the WMCA's diverse and youthful population brings significant strengths and opportunities, these sit alongside deep‑rooted inequalities that continue to affect people's life chances from early childhood onwards," the report said.

According to the statistics, there are four local authorities that have been ranked among the 30 most deprived in England overall.

Within the region, Birmingham was found to be the most deprived area and has been ranked fifth nationally, while Sandwell was ranked 19th.

Both Wolverhampton and Walsall were also ranked in the top 30 with them listed 23rd and 28th respectively.

The report added: "The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) shows that nearly half of all children in the WMCA area, around 49%, live in households with low incomes."

However, it said the figures varied "widely", with 62% of children in Birmingham living in low-income homes, compared with 30% in Solihull.

"In 2023/24, around 280,000 children in the WMCA were living in relative low‑income households - an increase of nearly 8,600 children from the previous year," the report said.

It comes after reports that energy prices will rise to the highest level for three years.

Ofgem said the price cap would increase by 4% on 1 October, driven by higher wholesale gas prices due to the Iran war.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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