Council data shows 23,200 (31.9 per cent) pupils were eligible in spring 2024, up from 17,200 (23.9 per cent) in spring 2020.
The latest figures were revealed as part of a Durham County Council update on child poverty. The percentage of children living in relative poverty (aged 0-19) 2022/23 in County Durham is 19.3 per cent compared to 20.5 per cent in the North East and 19.5 per cent in England.
Areas within Peterlee, Easington, Woodhouse Close, Shildon and Newton Aycliffe West consistently experience high levels of child poverty, according to the local authority.
In a bid to support more pupils, a further 2,000 pupils benefited from a new free school meals enrollment scheme introduced in October 2024 after data revealed thousands entitled to the meals were not registered. Entitlement to free school meals has been shown to benefit a family by up to £400 per year for each child in receipt.
Praising the scheme, councillor Anne Reed told a council scrutiny meeting: “There were so many families missing out on the auto-enrolment for one reason or another. The free school meals alongside the Fun and Food programme and Bread and Butter Thing are much-needed.”
Meanwhile, the council’s Start for Life fund supported 673 households between September 2023 and November 2024. The fund provides investment for safe sleeping and home safety equipment to families most in need.
More than 118,000 children are living in poverty across County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Northumberland, according to recent research from the End Child Poverty Coalition.
Last year, the North East Combined Authority set out an ambition to lead the nation in bringing down “immoral” child poverty rates blighting the lives of thousands of families. Mayor Kim McGuinness and the region’s council leaders formally backed plans to set up a new child poverty reduction unit, which will be the first of its kind in the country.
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The unit is expected to deliver measures including a new grant to support parents, particularly women, who struggle to get back into work because of the cost of paying for childcare.
The child poverty rate in the North East in 2021/22 was 35 per cent compared to a national rate of 29 per cent, with around 7 in 10 children living in poverty being from working families.
After being elected last May, Ms McGuinness said it was her “number one priority” to bring down “crippling” levels of child poverty.