THE extent of poverty impacting thousands of Barnsley youngsters has been laid bare in a report which shows more than one in four kids in an area of the town are now classed as living in deprivation.

A total of 27.1 per cent of children living in Cudworth are in the bracket much higher than Barnsley’s 22.5 per cent and England’s 17.1 per cent averages.

The North East Area Council which includes the Cudworth, Monk Bretton, Royston and North East wards met last Thursday to discuss the stark picture.

All in the Barnsley South constituency, more than 6,000 kids are currently living in child poverty, which equates to 35.6 per cent of all the children in the area, or 11 in every 30 pupils in a classroom.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions also show 13,901 children under the age of 16 in Barnsley were living in relative poverty in the year to March up from 13,418 the year before and the highest since comparable records began in 2013/14.

It meant 31 per cent of children in the area were in households whose income was below 60 per cent of the average income, and also claimed child benefit with at least one other household benefit.

MP Stephanie Peacock, who represents the constituency, said many had turned to foodbanks as a result.

“Foodbank usage has sadly increased over the last decade,” she told the Chronicle.

“The Labour government is determined to tackle poverty at its root cause.

“I know all the staff and volunteers at foodbank centres work hard to support the community and I want to take this opportunity to thank them for all their efforts.

“Families in Barnsley and across the country are struggling under the strain of poverty and food insecurity.

“With more than 15,000 children living in poverty in Barnsley and foodbanks reporting that rise in children needing food parcels, the work is vital in our community.

“In Barnsley South, poverty has a shocking statistic and a more than quarter of children in our local area are growing up in poverty.

“Families who were struggling before the cost-of-living crisis are unable to cut costs any more than they already have.

“Charities and local groups do incredible work to support their communities but this isn’t their mess to fix.”

A Department for Education spokesperson described the issue as a ‘stain’.

They added: “Through our Plan For Change, this government has taken a historic step to tackle the stain of child poverty and spread opportunity extending free school meal eligibility to all children in households on Universal Credit.

“This means over half a million more children will be able to access free meals from the 2026 school year, lifting 100,000 children completely out of poverty.

“This forms part of our wider plan to put money back in the pockets of working families with parents also set to benefit from our free breakfast club rollout and school uniform cost cap, helping them save up to £500 a year.”