People are £10,200 worse off than in 2010, think tank finds
An annual report into the state of Britain’s cities has revealed a desperate rise in urban poverty since 2010 and stressed the importance of a levelling up agenda for the next government.
Every part of the UK has been levelled down since 2010, leaving people on average £10,200 worse off than if the economy had grown at its pre-2010 trajectory, think tank Centre for Cities found.
This increased to over £20,000 in cities Burnley, Cambridge and Milton Keynes, with a combination of poor productivity growth and increasingly unaffordable housing squeezing people’s income over the past decade.
The report into the economic performance of urban Britain focused on growth since 2010, and found in-work poverty was up almost everywhere, with six cities today having more than a third of children in relative poverty, compared to none in 2014.
Despite a growth in jobs lifting many households out of absolute poverty since 2014, the report found the proportion of children in relative poverty has risen in every city except Belfast and Basildon.
Following the findings, the think tank urged the next government to continue a levelling up agenda and focus on supporting underperforming major cities outside of London.
Furthermore it called to introduce the next phase of devolution and for a reform to the planning system, moving to a rules-based approach to replace the existing discretionary, case-by-case system.
Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said politicians must “go beyond the rhetoric” and “do what’s needed” to improve growth.
“The UK has had a torrid time since the Great Recession. Everywhere, up and down the country, including places that were doing relatively well before, has been levelled down because of the lack of growth,” said Carter.
“To get growth in every place, the next Government needs to act at a radically different pace and scale, and mark the beginning of a multi-decade policy programme.”
(Image credit: Filip Patock / Flickr)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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