Nearly 30,000 children in the borough live in poverty, a study shows.

Figures released on Wednesday, October 14 by the End Child Poverty coalition reveal that 28,222 children in Redbridge were in poverty in 2018-19.

The Loughborough University research shows that even before the pandemic London boroughs dominated the list of UK authorities where child poverty is highest, with 14 of the top 20 hotspot boroughs in the capital.

Anna Feuchtwang, who chairs End Child Poverty, said: “This new data reveals the true extent of the hardship experienced by families on low incomes – the overwhelming majority of which were working households before the pandemic.

“The children affected are on a cliff edge, and the pandemic will only sweep them further into danger.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “There are 100,000 fewer children living in absolute poverty than in 2009/10 and making sure every child gets the best start in life is central to our efforts to level up opportunity across the country.

“We have already taken significant steps to do this by raising the living wage, ending the benefit freeze and injecting more than £9.3billion into the welfare system to help those in most need.”

Newham saw the highest number with 39,638 while Tower Hamlets registered 35,725. Redbridge’s number has increased by almost 2,000 since 2014-15 when 26,384 children were in poverty.

London’s child poverty rate rose to 39pc in 2018-2019 up from 37pc the year before. It is the highest of any UK region.

The study shows that the cost of housing is a driver of child poverty in the capital

Chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, said: “Londoners want every child to be able to reach their full potential but this new data shows our capital has the highest concentration of children in poverty in the UK, and rising - which in practice means hundreds of thousands of children were falling behind, even before the pandemic.

“That should be a wake-up call for government as we enter a coronavirus recession.”

The research used data from the Department for Work and Pensions, Valuation Office Agency and Understanding Society survey.