This episode is all about the rising tide of child poverty that has been gripping the north over the last few years, while also taking a look at how the pandemic has been affecting the situation.

We spoke to a single mum struggling below the breadline, a teacher who encounters the reality of child poverty in the classroom every day, as well as experts from anti-poverty charities and Trussell Trust Foodbanks, to put these shocking figures into perspective.

As of March 2020, just before Covid-19 hit, there were estimated to be 1.1 million children living in poverty across the North. That was up by around 300,000 children compared to March 2015.

It means that in the five years before the pandemic, the proportion of children living below the breadline had risen from 28% to 33% - affecting one in every three northern kids.

Written and presented by Annie Gouk and produced by Mark Magill.