NEARLY half of children are expected to be living in families forced to “make sacrifices on essentials” by the start of the new financial year, new research revealed today.

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) estimated that 23.4 million people will be short of funds to meet the “acceptable standard of living” by an average of £8,600 per year.

This represents more than a third of the population, the think tank said, and means that 48 per cent of children will be part of households “unable to provide them a decent standard of living.”