Devonport: More than a third of households on benefits

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is calling for government action to help areas such as Honicknowle, St Peter and the Waterfront and Devonport.

It says more than 50% of families in St Peter and the Waterfront are on benefits, with no members of the household working.

In Devonport and Honicknowle it is more than a third.

Crime threat

The Foundation says despite recent progress in targeting child and pensioner poverty, twice as many people are on low incomes as there were 25 years ago.

The charity wants the government to use more sophisticated measures of poverty to target the poorest neighbourhoods.

It wants more adequate housing and a more supportive welfare state.

It is also calling for action to prevent poor households being concentrated in deprived areas with high crime.