AROUND one in three Dudley children are living in poverty according to a new survey by welfare activists.

Campaign group End Child Poverty’s latest research shows 30 per cent of youngsters in the Dudley North parliamentary constituency are in households where total income is below the poverty level - less than 60 per cent of national average income after housing costs are deducted.

Within the constituency two wards are child poverty hotspots, Castle and Priory at 33 per cent and St Thomas’s at 38 per cent.

In better-off Dudley South the total figure is 25 per cent, the worst performing wards were Brockmoor and Pensnett (34 per cent) and Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews (36 per cent).

David Holmes, chairman of End Child Poverty, called on politicians from all parties to do more to tackle the issue of child poverty in the UK, which he says costs Britain £29bn each year.

Mr Holmes said: “Far too many children whose parents are struggling to make a living are suffering as a result and missing out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to.”

Nationally the worst performing constituency is Bethnal Green and Bow with a rate of 49 per cent, the best is West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine with nine per cent.

Housing costs are defined to include bills like rent, mortgage interest, insurance and water rates.

According to a Department of Work and Pensions report published in July 2014, national average weekly income after housing costs are deducted is £374.