The link between poverty and violent crime

City Hall has published new analysis confirming a strong link between serious youth violence and Londoners affected by deprivation, poor mental health and poverty.

The new figures show that three-quarters of the boroughs in London with the highest levels of violent offending are also in the top 10 most deprived, while the same boroughs also have higher proportions of children under 20 living in poverty than the London average.

The statistics, in the most detailed study of the causes of violent crime ever undertaken in London, show that more than a quarter of all young Londoners live in the most deprived areas of the capital. It also reveals that serious youth violence in the capital started rising in 2012.