York families will gain an extra £3 million in the coming year from a Child Benefit boost which comes into force this week, according to the city's MP.

Junior Social Security Minister Hugh Bayley has used Government statistics to calculate the effect of the rise on York itself, North Yorkshire and the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

He said there are 33,075 children under 16 in York, whose mothers will receive an added £3,105,000 in the coming year; 107,520 children in North Yorkshire will gain an extra £10,093,000; and 1,042,450 children in the region will gain an additional £97,855,000.

The Government has raised the rate for the first child in every family by £2.95 a week, taking the weekly benefit from £11.45 to £14.40.

For second and subsequent children the benefit rises to £9.60 a week. Mr Bayley said in making his calculation he took into account the numbers of first and subsequent children in the different areas, adding his was an underestimate because he could not include the children between 16 and 18 still in full-time education.

One child in four lives in a family poor enough to claim Income Support. This year the rise in Child Benefit will not be taken off their Income Support because the premium for that benefit is going up at the same time.

Mr Bayley said: "Labour is right to provide more money for families and children. It costs a lot to bring up a child and children are our future.

"There was a record increase in the number of children growing up in poverty under the Conservatives and record increases in youth unemployment, juvenile delinquency and crime. It is one reason why we now need a record rise in Child Benefit to help families catch up.

"But it will need more than money to end poverty and social exclusion. We are working with good local councils like York to raise school standards and provide jobs and training for young people under Labour's New Deal. We need support from community groups, voluntary bodies, churches and mosques, and in York we are lucky to have that kind of community spirit."

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