amendment of the law

Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Mark Harper

Tuesday 25th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)]

I listened carefully to what my right hon. Friend said about incentives to work. Will he say a little about the 450,000 fewer workless households, and the 290,000 fewer children living in such households? Perhaps that has something to do with his welfare reforms.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I am going to come on to that, but one of the great success stories is the fact that the number of workless households has fallen for the first time in 30 years. My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I shall give a few more details about that in a second.