Poor housing affecting children

About 125,000 children in the West Midlands have been living in squalid conditions, a report from the housing charity Shelter has revealed.

In Birmingham 1,420 homeless children are trapped in temporary accommodation and 44,935 children are suffering in cramped housing, it added.

An estimated 6,975 youngsters also live in unfit housing in the city.

Children in overcrowded properties are up to 10 times more likely to contract meningitis, the report said.

It warned children in bad housing had up to a 25% higher risk of severe ill health and disability during childhood and early adulthood.

It also found homeless children were also up to four times more likely to suffer mental health problems than other youngsters.

Child poverty expert Lisa Harker, who wrote the report for Shelter, said: "Children who grow up in bad housing are robbed of their future chances by ill-health, educational under-achievement and devastating insecurity."