Child Poverty Varies Widely Across Cheltenham's Wards

New ward-by-ward figures show how many Cheltenham children live in low-income families, before and after housing costs.

By Mat Benfield · Published 2026-10-09

New figures for children in low-income families by Cheltenham ward show a wide difference across the town. In FYE 2025, 40.9% of children aged 0 to 15 in Hesters Way were in relative low-income families after housing costs, compared with 3.8% in Charlton Park.

Before housing costs, the relative low-income rate was 32.0% in Hesters Way and 2.7% in Charlton Park. The new page compares all 20 wards, with year-by-year counts and percentages from the Department for Work and Pensions.

FAQs

What Does the Page Show?

  • Three ward-level series: relative low income after housing costs for FYE 2024 and 2025, plus relative and absolute low income before housing costs for FYE 2022 to 2025. Each table shows both the number and share of children.

What Does “Relative Low Income” Mean?

  • It compares a family’s income with the UK median. Absolute low income compares with a 2010/11 income threshold adjusted for inflation. Both measures are shown before housing costs; the relative measure is also shown after housing costs.

Why Do the Ward Counts Not Add Up Exactly?

  • The DWP rounds counts and applies statistical disclosure control to reduce the risk of identifying individuals. The rates are rounded to one decimal place, so neither the counts nor the percentages should be treated as exact totals.

Where Do the Figures Come From?

  • The Department for Work and Pensions’ annual Children in low income families: local area statistics, published under the Open Government Licence. The latest release covers financial years ending 2022 to 2025.