 Few children born into poverty will escape it |
Wales still has some of the worst areas of poverty in the UK, according to latest statistics. Research by Oxfam Cymru and the Anti-Poverty Network Cymru (APNC) warns that despite measures taken by the Welsh Assembly Government, a child born in Wales could remain one of the poorest in the UK throughout its life.
The report, called From the Cradle to the Grave, used statistics gathered from a variety of sources - including Help The Aged, Save the Children, Citizen's Advice Bureau and official Welsh Assembly Government statistics.
They revealed that Wales has the highest number of children living in poverty, and that at the other end of the spectrum, a majority of pensioners in Wales depend on the state pension and other state benefits as their main source of income.
The report has been released on Friday to coincide with the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The APNC is calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to put the eradication of poverty at the top of its agenda.
Francis Ballin, volunteer co-ordinator for the organisation, said: "The scale of deprivation experienced here in Wales is surely unacceptable for an economy as strong as the UK's.
 Areas like the Rhondda Valley are badly affected |
"Rundown, hostile neighbourhoods, lack of access to social opportunity, poor health and discriminatory attitudes all conspire to lower the quality of life profoundly. "We want the assembly to ensure that people experiencing poverty in Wales have opportunities to meet decision makers and to influence their political decisions."
The report showed :-
Wales has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK (33%) Wales has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe The youth unemployment rate is 28.6% Wales has more pensioners than the rest of the UK, and half have annual incomes of less than �10,000. In June, a new assembly development, aimed at helping the more deprived areas of Wales, began work.
The social justice department was created when First Minister Rhodri Morgan named his new cabinet in the wake of the assembly election in May.
Social Justice Minister Edwina Hart's main weapon in tackling deprivation is the �83m Communities First programme.
The scheme aims to tackle deprivation in areas largely concentrated within the west Wales and the south Wales valleys which receive money under the European Union's Objective One programme.
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