Cardigan's Teifi ward has the most children living in poverty in the county, according to new figures.

While the average for Ceredigion, after housing costs, is 26.2%, Teifi ward which includes Ridgeway and Golwg y Castell estates, is top of the county table with 42.56% of children living in poverty.

Research undertaken by the charity End Child Poverty has suggested that poverty among working families is a growing problem, with the majority of poor children (59%) living in households where at least one adult works.

Throughout the UK, 15.9% of children are classified as living in poverty before housing costs are taken into consideration, while 25% are poor once housing has been accounted for. Ceredigion is worse than the average, with 27% of children classified as poor, after housing costs.

The figures for individual areas within Ceredigion show a wide variation. Child poverty rates are below 10% in some areas, including parts of Aberystwyth, the Ystwyth valley and Troedyraur, but are relatively high in other parts of Aberystwyth, Cardigan, and some more rural areas such as Llanarth and Llansantffraed.

In Cardigan's Mwldan ward the figure is 30.38%, in Rhydyfwch it's 33.26%. Aberporth - which has just seen the opening of a new Flying Start centre - weighs in with 36.98%.

Mike Parker, Plaid Cymru’s MP candidate for Ceredigion, said,

“These figures confirm what I’m hearing on the doorstep locally. People in work are finding it really hard to make ends meet, due to stagnant incomes, zero-hours contracts and the rising cost of living. Policies such as the Bedroom Tax and cuts to help for the disabled have only made things worse.

“It can’t be right that the UK has one of the biggest rates of relative poverty among children in the whole of the industrialised world. The gap between rich and poor is growing, and we can see the effects of that all around us."

Local AM, Elin Jones, said,

“Governments in both Westminster and Cardiff have set targets and produced action plans for reducing child poverty. These figures show that the problem isn’t going away.

“Although the most deprived places are in the big cities where you’d expect, the fact that Ceredigion is worse than the UK average, and that the detailed local figures show a wide variety across the county, demonstrates that it isn’t just an urban problem.”

Teifi ward county councillor Catrin Miles said: "On a local and county level, I am supporting the authority's moves towards a cashless system that will help and encourage parents to take up free school meals on behalf of children who are eligible. A pilot scheme will be run in the lead-up to Christmas and I very much hope that this system will be established throughout Ceredigion early in 2015. This is seen as very much part of CCC's "invest to save" scheme of work. A small step, maybe, but a vital one with a dual benefit: ensuring that all children benefit from a good lunch as well as drawing down extra funds for schools that can identify pupils that qualify under the scheme."