Proportion of children in poverty before and after housing costs by London borough (2024/25)
Last update: May 2026
Next update: June 2027
What’s this indicator?
This indicator shows the proportion of children in each London borough that are growing up in poverty. We can see the poverty rate for each borough both before and after housing costs are taken into account.
View a map of the data at the bottom of the page.
High levels of child poverty across London
In all but six London boroughs more than one in five children are growing up in poverty. But across the capital there are huge disparities in child poverty rates.
For example, in Tower Hamlets and Hackney half of children (50%) are in poverty, compared to 15% in Bromley. Similarly, a child born in Hounslow is nearly three times as likely to be in poverty than one born in the neighbouring borough Richmond - 32% compared to 11%.
The impact of housing costs on child poverty
This also shows us the large impact that the cost of housing has on poverty in the capital. In the borough with the highest poverty levels (Tower Hamlets), 27% of children are classified as being in poverty before housing costs are considered. Taking account of housing costs increases this figure to 50%.
The child poverty rate at least doubles when housing costs are accounted for in 21 of the 33 boroughs, and even in the borough with the lowest gap between before and after housing costs (Camden) housing costs still increase the child poverty rate by 66%.
Map of child poverty by London borough
Child poverty rate (AHC) (2023/24)
Want to know more?
If you want to explore this data in more depth, check the 'data source and notes' button on the above charts. This will tell you where the data comes from, where you may be able to dig deeper.