Almost half of children in Edmonton are living below the poverty line, figures have revealed.

Statistics from charity Child Poverty Action Group, state that 43 per cent of children in Edmonton are living in poverty, the joint fifth highest in the UK.

Enfield has the seventh highest figures of any borough in the country, with 37 per cent of children living in poverty.

Neighbouring Haringey is eleventh on the list of local authorities, with nearby constituency Tottenham (42 per cent), eighth highest.

The charity used tax credit data from 2011 and national unemployment figures from 2013 to estimate the numbers of children in low-income households.

Enfield North constituency was in the top 15 constituencies in London with children poverty rates at 38 per cent.

The figures suggest that almost one in six children in the UK is classified as below the poverty line.

Enfield Council leader Councillor Doug Taylor believes the government needs to do more to help Enfield tackle poverty.

He said: “We accept there are pockets of deprivation and child poverty in Enfield, and we are actively working to address these issues.  It is a great pity that Government does not provide the resources to tackle this in the way we would like to.

“Enfield Council is absolutely committed to permanently lifting families out of poverty by improving educational attainment in schools and providing good quality jobs for residents.  

“We are doing this by arguing for investment from the government, providing new homes and jobs through major regeneration schemes in the borough, improving standards of attainment in our schools – as evidenced through improving GCSE and A-level results and by getting more people into work.

“However child poverty is directly related to low incomes and Government policy is not helping to change that.”

Andy Love, Edmonton MP believes the figures should set off “alarm bells” within the Government.

He said: “Child poverty reduces life chances and leaves so many young people living miserable childhoods.  It is particularly worrying to learn that the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that it will raise further still over the coming years. 

“We need a long term consensus for reducing child poverty.  This could start with reversing recent welfare reforms which have left so many more local people on the bread line.”

Nick de Bois, Enfield North MP, added: “We're doing more than ever to help children, the attainment gap for deprived pupils has fallen and we've just seen the largest fall in unemployment since 1988.

“The Government remains committed to the goal of ending child poverty by 2020, and has already made great strides, with 300,000 fewer children in relative poverty and 290,000 fewer children growing up in workless families."

Yousif, a 17 year-old from Edmonton, a Young Commissioner on the Children’s Society’s Children’s Commission on Poverty, said: “Edmonton stands as one example of the wider issue of child poverty facing our country today.

“In such a rich country, it is a plain injustice to have so many children suffering in a position out of their control. With such a silent issue we must hear the unheard voices of the children and young people involved.

“Together, we will come up with practical solutions and destroy child poverty - not instantly, but definitely.”