{"schemaVersion":"1.0","type":"DataStory","id":"a-childs-london","title":"A child’s London","description":"School eligibility, family income and overcrowding reveal different dimensions of pressure on children.","introduction":"No single administrative measure defines childhood hardship. These sources use different populations and years, so the story presents them beside one another without combining them into a score.","category":"People","canonical":"https://londongraph.com/story/a-childs-london","markdown":"https://londongraph.com/story/a-childs-london/index.html.md","updatedAt":"2026-08-02T22:24:18.849Z","caveat":"The measures have different populations, periods and policy definitions. They are descriptive and do not identify individual children.","evidence":[{"dataset":"children-on-free-school-meals","graphSlug":"children-on-free-school-meals","label":"Free-school-meal eligibility","text":"The published share of pupils eligible under current administrative rules.","shape":"area","metric":"fsm_eligible_percent","unit":"%","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals","claim":{"dataset":"children-on-free-school-meals","graphSlug":"children-on-free-school-meals","label":"Free-school-meal eligibility","text":"The published share of pupils eligible under current administrative rules.","headlineLabel":"Islington","value":47.8067047075606,"unit":"%","period":"2025/26","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":28.2469914881127,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T22:24:18.849Z","resourceUrl":"https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019e7404-df19-71ce-90a8-f2e3db7dd7fa/csv?dataSetVersion=1.0","methodologyUrl":"https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics","releaseLabel":"Academic year 2025/26","sourcePublishedAt":"2026-06-04T08:30:26.720Z","resourceChecksum":"db5a3ec58808c7ba8fcbc4ba36147346e57bbd0a4f9ae9ea479e440ae114af36"}}},{"dataset":"children-in-relative-low-income-families","graphSlug":"children-on-free-school-meals","label":"Children in low-income families","text":"OHID’s borough administrative proxy before housing costs.","shape":"area","metric":"children_low_income_percent","unit":"%","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals","claim":{"dataset":"children-in-relative-low-income-families","graphSlug":"children-on-free-school-meals","label":"Children in low-income families","text":"OHID’s borough administrative proxy before housing costs.","headlineLabel":"Tower Hamlets","value":26.7,"unit":"%","period":"2024/25","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":15.5,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T22:19:32.107Z","resourceUrl":"https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/api/all_data/csv/by_indicator_id?indicator_ids=93700&child_area_type_id=502&parent_area_type_id=6&parent_area_code=E12000007","methodologyUrl":"https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/documents/fingertips_api_guide.pdf","releaseLabel":"Children in relative low-income families: 2024/25","sourcePublishedAt":"2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z","resourceChecksum":"17b5b4fd84e4632ddc1beb0cb0222fe57d3b4effdb61b8e6ebaa2be00b791111"}}},{"dataset":"census-neighbourhood-overcrowding","graphSlug":"overcrowded-london","label":"Bedroom overcrowding","text":"Census neighbourhood households below the bedroom occupancy standard.","shape":"area","metric":"overcrowded_households_percent","unit":"%","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/overcrowded-london","claim":{"dataset":"census-neighbourhood-overcrowding","graphSlug":"overcrowded-london","label":"Bedroom overcrowding","text":"Census neighbourhood households below the bedroom occupancy standard.","headlineLabel":"Ealing 043B","value":39.223560910307896,"unit":"%","period":"2021","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":9.87761302608212,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T22:05:17.143Z","resourceUrl":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2021/bulk","methodologyUrl":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2021/bulk","releaseLabel":"Census 2021 TS052","sourcePublishedAt":"2021-03-21T00:00:00.000Z","resourceChecksum":"7ff2fd9263ac24350feec0b8b5ecd0e225af1d2444845c40cdbe685bb10ab685"}}}],"sources":[{"name":"Department for Education","url":"https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics","graphSlug":"children-on-free-school-meals"},{"name":"Office for Health Improvement and Disparities","url":"https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/","graphSlug":"children-on-free-school-meals"},{"name":"Office for National Statistics / Nomis","url":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2021/bulk","graphSlug":"overcrowded-london"}]}