CHILD poverty in North Ayrshire is still on the rise, according to government figures.

A report by the Department of Work and Pension published last week revealed that of all Scotland's local authority areas, only Glasgow has a bigger share of kids living below the breadline than North Ayrshire.

The UK government stats breaks down the amount of children aged 16 and under, into relative and absolute low income families.

Overall the numbers in North Ayrshire in relative poverty rose from 6,436 in 2018 to 7,514 last year.

While the numbers in absolute poverty jumped from 5,300 to 5,951.

Relative low income is a measure of whether the poorest families are keeping pace with middle income households.

Absolute measures if the poorest families are keeping pace with inflation.

A separate breakdown for Ardrossan and Arran shows that the number of children in low income households – both relative and absolute – has jumped from 552 to 762 in the last eight years, an increase of 38 percent.

In Saltcoats the figures shot up from 902 to 1,055 in the same period, in Stevenston from 1,114 to 1,508, Kilwinning from 1,137 to 1,658, and Dalry and West Kilbride from 615 to 807.

Craig Crosthwaite, development manager with the Ardrossan-based North Ayrshire Foodbank, said the figures reflect the increase in demand for their services in the el11even years since they were set up in 2012.

In that time the number of of food parcels given to families has trebled from 3,000 in the first year to 9,000 in 2022.

The food bank puts on a holiday club for kids which guarantees them a hot meal at least once a day and provide benefits advice to parents to help them increase their income.

Craig added:"The figures do not surprise me. We have known about this for quite some time.

"There is a constant demand for our services and food parcels."

Last week the food bank delivered between 50 and 60 food parcels across North Ayrshire.

Overall 51 per cent of children in North Ayrshire live on or below the breadline, with Glasgow the highest at 57.5.

Clackmannanshire was third, with 46.3 per cent in poverty, while neighbouring East Ayrshire was fourth at at 45.3 per cent.

A total of 189,000 children live in low income families in Scotland.

East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire both have the lowest levels of child poverty at around ten percent each

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We recognise too many people are living in poverty which is why we are committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in Scotland.

“In this financial year we have allocated almost £3 billion to a range of measures which will help mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis on households."

ENDS