Nearly one person in four in the West Midlands is still living in poverty, with children the hardest hit.
Government data released today shows 1.4 million people across the region were living in relative poverty between 2015/16 and 2017/18.
That’s 23% of the population - the same level seen since between 2013/14 and 2015/16.
Children are the most likely to be hit by deprivation, with more than one in every three (34%) living in relative poverty.
That means around 400,000 children across the West Midlands are living below the breadline.
Children in the West Midlands are also more than twice as likely as pensioners to find themselves in relative poverty.
Only 17% of pensioners - around 200,000 people overall - fall below the breadline.
The figures look at how much income people have, relative to the national average, once housing costs have been taken into account.
Anyone with less than 60% of the average income is deemed to be in relative poverty.
Across the UK, 22% of the population were living in relative poverty in 2017/18 - 14 million people across the country.
That figure rises to 30% of children, meaning 4.1 million are living below the breadline.
More than two thirds of children in relative poverty (70%) have parents that work, the figures show.
Only 16% of pensioners - two million people overall - fall below the breadline.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Today’s poverty figures make grim reading, with more than 4.1 million children still in poverty and a jump in the proportion of poor children in working families.
“Despite high employment, today’s figures reveal that 70% of children living under the poverty line have at least one parent in work.
“That is not an economy that is working for everyone.
“Today’s grim figures must be the point at which we turn the tide of child poverty again.
“In the short term this means an end to the benefit freeze, restoring the losses that have pulled families into poverty and re-building cross-party support for a comprehensive child poverty strategy with ambitious targets.
“Today’s children deserve nothing less.”
The data shows that, in 2017/18, the average income before housing costs remained the same as in 2016/17 at £507 a week, or £26,364 a year.
However the average income after housing costs decreased from £438 to £437 a week.
That suggests the rising cost of renting is partly responsible for an increase in poverty.
Follow James Rodger on social media
Housing costs tend to disproportionately affect younger people - including families with children - who are more likely to rent, and less likely to have paid off mortgages.
It also means poverty is more keely felt in areas that are expensive to live in.
There are two ways of measuring poverty in the UK.
As well as measuring relative low income, the government also sets a figure for “absolute” low income.
This sets a threshold of 60% of the median UK income in 2010/11, adjusted each year in line with inflation.
In 2017/18 some 19% of people (12.5 million) were considered to be in absolute low income - the same proportion as in 2016/17.
Some 18% of working-age adults (7.2 million) are in absolute poverty - as are 14% of pensioners (1.6 million), and 26% of children (3.7 million).
