Randeep Ramesh Wealthy families in Britain are a third less likely to have a disabled child, a statistic that reveals an alarming social gradient because poorer families unlucky enough to have such children are pushed further into poverty by the pressures of caring for them, according to research. Despite 15 years of legislation attempting to ease the burden on affected families, the highest prevalence of childhood disability is found in poorest families, academics at Warwick University found. Extra costs In the paper, published in the journal BMC Pediatrics, researchers found that households with a disabled child were