MORE than a quarter of children in Lancashire live in poverty, say the authors of a worrying new report.

The Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit has based its claim on government statistics about the number of children entitled to free school meals in the North West.

And the unit claims the statistics are a reliable indicator of poverty because only families on income support are entitled to claim free school meals.

According to the survey, 26.4 per cent of pupils in Lancashire county schools get free meals.

More than 100,000 youngsters have free school meals in the North West, an increase of 13.4 per cent in the last five years. Knowsley in Merseyside has the worst figures with 53.3 per cent, while Cheshire has the lowest amount at 16 per cent.

Gabrielle Cox, the author of the report, said: "These alarming figures show the very high numbers of children who live in families which are dependent on means tested benefits. It is extraordinary that in some parts of the North West half of all children are living in poverty."

She added: "The task facing the new Government is massive and the only real solution for families in poverty is for parents to have the chance of work at reasonable wages.

"A national minimum wage will be an important stepping stone to this end but it is vital that poverty trap caused by the benefits system is removed.

"Perhaps most important of all is that real jobs need to be created to offer some hope to these children and their families."

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