4 June 2025 

SDLP Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Paul Doherty has said that rising levels of child poverty across the North demand an urgent and serious response from the Executive.

He was speaking after new data revealed that child poverty rates are now worse than they were a decade ago.

The highest levels were recorded in West Belfast, where Councillor Doherty operates a local foodbank. In that constituency, 32.9% of children are living in poverty.

Councillor Doherty said:

“Given the Executive’s long-standing failure to tackle child poverty, it is sadly no surprise that we are now seeing an increase across communities in the North. The refusal to implement a meaningful anti-poverty strategy and address the root causes of deprivation means that more children are growing up without basic necessities or enough to eat. That is absolutely shameful.

“Let’s be clear, this crisis is the result of political choices. The choice not to abolish the two-child benefit cap, not to extend free school meals, not to cap school uniform costs and not to properly fund community organisations. These are all within the Executive’s grasp, yet they have failed to act, with devastating consequences for families.

“I see the impact of those choices every day. It’s children going to school hungry, living in cold or damp homes and having their potential stifled. It’s parents under relentless pressure, doing everything they can to give their kids a decent start in life. Community groups like mine step in where we can, but the truth is, we exist because politics is failing to deal with these issues.

“Unless we see a fundamental shift in how poverty is approached, we’ll be back here in another decade with the same statistics, the same suffering, and another generation failed. There is a basic moral duty to protect children from the scourge of poverty and this Executive is not meeting it.”