Almost half of Hounslow's children are living in or on the brink of poverty, according to a shocking report.

A huge 45 per cent of children in the borough live with out of work families or families with low incomes, and in Hanworth, Isleworth, Brentford, Heston, Feltham North, and Cranford that figure is more than half, according to the Campaign to End Child Poverty.

Simrit Mann, co-ordinator of the Hounslow Lone Parent Network, thinks the difficulties that single parents face while looking for work is to blame.

"In an ideal world single parents would need work that fits around school hours and term time, but there are not many posts like that so parents get stuck," she told the Chronicle.

Elisabeth Moke, of Park Way, Feltham, is a single 23-year-old mother who has first hand experience of the problem. "I am struggling to pay my bills and my rent," she said. "I'm in private rented accommodation, which has risen to £1,100 a month because I can't get a council house, even though I have been bidding for a year now.

"I want to work and be a role model for my four-year-old little girl, I worry about her future, but I know if I start working full time I would be struggling even more. I would have to pay more towards the rent and I would have to pay for child care."

Most employers offer three to four weeks paid leave, yet children are out of school on holidays for a total of 19 weeks a year.
The charity One Parent Families said its research showed that lone parents suffered more from debt, with almost half going into arrears, compared with a quarter of two parent families.

The official definition of a low income family is where no-one works more than 16 hours a week or where the family is receiving the full amount of Working Tax credit.

Ward breakdown of percentage of children living in poverty in descending order

Hanworth - 56%
Isleworth - 55%
Brentford - 54%
Heston West -52%
Feltham North - 51%
Cranford - 51%
Bedfont - 48%
Feltham West- 48%
Syon - 48%
Hanworth Park- 44%
Hounslow Heath - 43%
Heston East- 43%
Hounslow Central - 42%
Hounslow West -41%
Feltham North - 40%
Heston central - 39%
Turnham Green- 26%
Chiswick Homefields - 25%
Hounslow South - 24%
Osterley & Spring Grove - 23%
Chiswick Riverside - 23%