Child poverty in Brighton & Hove

What this topic summary covers the updated child poverty data published in March and June 2025 covering the period up to March 2024. It covers:

• how many children aged 0-15 years, or aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training, in Brighton & Hove are living in poverty
• how this differs before and after housing costs
• how this compares to other areas
• trends

This briefing summarises the latest data on local child poverty:

• before housing costs from the Department for Work and Pensions
• before and after housing costs, produced for the End Child Poverty Coalition by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University

The data is for the year ending March 2023.

Produced by: Public Health Intelligence Team, Brighton & Hove City Council, June 2025.

For more information send an email to publichealthintelligence@brighton-hove.gov.uk

The Department for Work and Pensions produces data each year at local authority level on the number and percentage of children aged 0 to 15 years, or aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training, who are living in households with below 60% median income before housing costs (BHC). This is defined as being in relative child poverty.

Every year the End Child Poverty Coalition, with the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, combine these figures and combine with information about housing costs at the local level to estimate poverty rates after housing costs (AHC). 

In 2023 to 2024, after housing costs were:

• £263 a week - for a family of one adult and one child
• £405 a week - for a family of one adult and two children
• £405 a week - for a family of two adults and one child
• £567 a week - for a family of two adults and two children

The BHC model takes no account of the fact that, comparing incomes for households in different parts of the country where housing costs vary, does not produce a like-for-like comparison of disposable incomes.

BHC figures therefore greatly understate the impact of low income in areas with high housing costs such as Brighton & Hove.

Both estimates are presented in this briefing.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions, in 2023 to 2024, in Brighton & Hove, there were:

• 5,834 children living in relative poverty BHC - around 1 in 7 (14%)
• 13,762 children living in relative poverty AHC - just over 1 in 4 (28%)

Trends

The child poverty rate in Brighton & Hove, before housing costs, increased from 12% in 2014 to 2015 to 14% in 2023 to 2024.

 An increase from 5,186 to 5,834 children.

After housing costs the percentage of children in poverty was 28% in 2023 to 2024, and has been between 26% and 29% since 2014 to 2015.

In 2014 to 2015 this was 14,141 children and in 2023 to 2024 it was 13,762 children aged 0 to 15 years, or aged 16 to 19 in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training, in Brighton & Hove.

Note on data

Currently, the data used to estimate child poverty rates do not include those children in households with no recourse to public funds (NRPF). There are estimated to be around 722,064 children affected by NRPF in the UK, and these children are at particularly high risk of being in poverty; evidence suggests that around a third of children living in deepest poverty are in migrant households. Excluding these children from local and national estimates of child poverty is therefore likely to result in an underestimation of the rate of child poverty that is particularly pronounced in areas with a high proportion of NRPF households.

Before housing costs, Brighton & Hove had a lower rate of relative child poverty in 2023 to 2024 than the UK as a whole (Brighton & Hove 14%, UK 22%), but similar to the South East (15%).

After housing costs, whilst the figures are higher, Brighton & Hove remains lower than the UK (Brighton & Hove 28%, UK 31%) but higher than the South East (25%).

Across Sussex there are 44,406 children living in poverty BHC and 87,873 AHC. Brighton & Hove has the largest number of any lower tier local authority in Sussex.

The child poverty rate BHC is greatest in Hastings (27%) and lowest in Mid Sussex (8%). AHC it is highest in Crawley and Hastings (34%) and lowest in Mid Sussex (16%).

Only estimates before housing cost are available below the city level.

Note that these were published based on the ward boundaries before the May 2023 changes.

In Moulsecoomb & Bevendean and East Brighton wards, over 600 children were living in relative child poverty before housing costs in 2023 to 24. These two wards also have the highest percentage of children living in relative poverty before housing costs (29% and 28% respectively).