New statistics released this week show that child poverty is rising twice as fast as government figures suggest. Child poverty is defined as any child living in a household with an income of less than 60 per cent of the national average, after housing costs are considered.

About one in every four children from Elm Park, South Hornchurch and Rainham and Wennington live in families that are struggling below the poverty line. The overall child poverty rate for Havering is 22 per cent. In Dagenham the proportion of children living in poverty is 36.6pc.

The rollout of Universal Credit is currently affecting the claimant count. Changes in claimant numbers may be a result of the rollout rather than changes in economic conditions.

The total number of unemployed claimants in Dagenham and Rainham constituency in April 2018 was 1,680. This represents a rate of 3.3% of the economically active population aged 16-64. The equivalent UK claimant rate was 2.9%. The UK unemployment rate, which includes people not claiming benefits and is estimated from survey data, was 4.2% between January and March 2018.

The total number of unemployed claimants in Dagenham and Rainham constituency in April 2016 was 1,586. This represents a rate of 3.2% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64, the 181st highest of the 650 UK constituencies. (1st = highest claimant rate, 650th = lowest claimant rate.) The equivalent UK claimant rate was 2.5%.

The total number of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants in Dagenham and Rainham constituency in April 2015 was 1,644. This represents a rate of 3.3% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64, the 187th highest of the 650 UK constituencies. (1st = highest claimant rate, 650th = lowest claimant rate.) The percentage of unemployed claimants in the constituency is proportionally higher than the average for London which rests at 2.7% of the population.