ABOUT one in three children will be living in relative poverty by the middle of the decade without government action to tackle the issue, the children’s commissioner for England has warned.

Anne Longfield is calling on ministers to come forward with a “big, bold, long-term plan” to fix the problem.

In 2010-11, there were 3.6 million children living in relative poverty in Britain after housing costs, but by 2018-19 that figure had risen to 4.2 million – equating to 30 per cent of children.