Tens of thousands of children face being swept into devastating poverty as the UK grapples with the coronavirus pandemic - with families already "cut adrift" by cruel benefit changes.
Today, a new study reveals that parts of the north and the Midlands have endured the steepest rises in the number of children living below the breadline in the past five years.
Research by Loughborough University sheds light on the shameful crisis, with 4.2 million children estimated to be in poverty across the UK.
The "horrifying" data found the poverty rate has risen fastest in the North East, and where it now affects nearly a quarter of children.