STEPS must be taken to end the stigma of poverty for York’s struggling residents, city leaders are to be told.

Research to be presented to City of York Council’s cabinet next week has examined the divide between York’s rich and poor.

It says the city’s most deprived and poverty-hit areas suffer more severely than national and regional averages.

A report by the authority’s head of policy, Stewart Halliday, said 4,575 York children – 13 per cent of the total – are enduring poverty.

More than half live in the Westfield, Clifton, Heworth, Hull Road and Guildhall wards.

Mr Halliday said while average York incomes are high, the lowest-paid ten per cent of workers are on some of Yorkshire’s thinnest wages, meaning “a gap is opening up”.

The authority welcomed The Press’s Stamp Out Poverty campaign, saying the response to it proves residents want “a fairer city” and saying that changing the perception of those in or facing poverty is vital.

Mr Halliday wrote: “There is a stigma attached to residents in some parts of the city or those having to use services such as food banks, which is unhelpful and unfair.

“Work needs to be done to create a better understanding of the causes of poverty in the city and ensure a less judgmental approach is taken.”

The report also found:

• The difference in life expectancy between York’s most and least deprived areas is four years for women and ten years for men

• The number of women in full-time jobs fell by almost 12 per cent in three years, with an equivalent rise in those working part-time. Reasons may include public sector job losses, child-care costs and more women caring for relatives

• More than 3,000 households are on York’s housing waiting list, with average property prices eight times higher than average incomes

• The cost of living for a family of two adults and two children may rise by £1,171 in 2013/14.

Mr Halliday’s report said the number of people at risk of poverty “is increasing at a rate beyond the ability of the council, in isolation, to manage”.

Detailed proposals for changing the perception of poverty in York and how energy, transport and food costs can be reduced will emerge in June.