Relative child poverty has trebled in the last 30 years. London has one of the biggest populations of deprived children in the developed world. Child poverty is usually caused by their parents unemployment. London has about twice the national proportion of children living in households whose adults are all non-earning. Infant mortality rates in some London boroughs are up to three times higher than more affluent outer boroughs.
Poverty affects the quality of housing for families with children.
This affects family cohesion. Children s health is always affected by government planning and spending priorities. One out of 7 London children suffer from asthma, caused or aggravated by factors within government control air quality, traffic density, other pollution, inadequate green spaces, play areas and local facilities. London children with protective parents are also paying the price, lacking regular outdoor exercise and the small freedoms that make a child s life happier and healthier because of unsafe streets, dangerous or dirty public spaces and facilities, and traffic hazards. Poor children living in deprived neighbourhoods are particularly disadvantaged in terms of unsafe open spaces and streets.