Compared to similar cities, the increase in child poverty in Bristol is modest.

However, it runs counter to the trends for the South West and the UK as a whole, which saw small decreases in child poverty between 2015 and 2021.

Bristol’s child poverty rate (after housing costs) is above average for the South West (25%), England (29%) and the UK as a whole (27%). However, it remains below similarly sized cities such as Nottingham (33.0%) Liverpool (33.4%), Leeds (35.9%), Sheffield (36.4%) and Manchester (42.%) and far below Tower Hamlets, the local authority with the highest child poverty rate at 52.4%

Compared to similar cities, the increase in child poverty in Bristol is modest. However, it runs counter to the trends for the South West and the UK as a whole, which saw small decreases in child poverty between 2015 and 2021. The difference between trends in the share of children living low-income households before housing costs in Bristol (slight decrease) and the share in poverty after housing costs are considered (increase) highlights the significant challenge of housing affordability in Bristol. Geographically disaggregated data on the share of children in low-income families also highlights stark inequalities in the city, ranging from just 2.6% in Redland to 40.2% in Lawrence Hill.

What Bristol is doing

Bristol published a child poverty strategy in 2012 that set out how the city would tackle child poverty until 2020. This strategy highlighted the causes of child poverty within Bristol and described various methods of support for people, including making training courses and education more accessible, providing easier access to financial advice and benefits, channelling younger children into employment through apprenticeships, and supporting families by building more affordable housing. In conjunction with partners across the council and city, Bristol has been working to deliver food provision (through meal vouchers), as well as holiday activity funds.

Working with local charities

The Bristol Poverty Institute, set up through the University of Bristol, helps tackle poverty through research and collaboration with local charities, such as:

• The Matthew Tree Project
• Frank Water
• Bristol Food Network

Bristol Local Food Fund received a donation from the local council to help tackle food insecurity and waste in Bristol.

To ensure the city considers future climate risks in its planning and decision making, Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol are working to deliver a Heat Vulnerability map of Bristol. This will map some of the key vulnerabilities that may impact the city’s future resilience to a changing climate and highlight the area’s most vulnerable to future heatwaves.

In recognition of the high housing costs facing many citizens, Bristol has established a commission to explore how Bristol can become a living-rent city without negatively impacting on the quality or availability of rental properties. The commission will seek to bring together analytical data with expertise, input and lived-experience testimony from key city partners and housing representative groups to understand how rent stabilisation might affect the Bristol private rented sector (PRS) market and support the most vulnerable citizens. In 2020, Bristol became a Living Wage City.

Partners across the city

Working with the following partners the city is aiming to more than double the number of Living Wage-accredited employers paying the real living wage of £9.30 per hour by 2023:

• Bristol City Council
• University of Bristol
• Triodos Bank
• DAC Beachcroft
• Wessex Archaeology
• Bristol Credit Union
• The Soil Association
• Business West

This work will help raise many out of in-work poverty and has made Bristol the largest UK city to achieve the status of Living Wage City. In response to the growing cost of living crisis, Bristol is developing a network of warm places to support residents who will struggle to pay their energy bills when the autumn energy price rise hits.

With the support of partners across the city, Bristol has identified 22 community spaces which will provide warmth, financial support and advice. Some will also help to tackle issues of hunger and education support.