Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December 2023, and its finding that the UK has seen the greatest increase in child poverty out of the 40 countries featured in the report; and what steps they are taking to prevent a further increase.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent available data, covering 2021/22, shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. From April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by a further 6.7% in line with inflation and the increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households.
The Government has always believed that work is the best way to help families improve their financial circumstances. This approach is based on clear evidence about the important role that work - particularly full-time – can play in reducing the risks of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
This is why, with over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on providing parents with the support they need to move into and progress in work. Parents on Universal Credit who are moving into work or increasing their hours can now get additional support with upfront childcare costs, and we have also increased the childcare costs that they can claim back by nearly 50%, up to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 for two or more children.
To support those who are in work, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) for people aged 21 and over by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour, an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earning of a full-time worker on the NLW.
The Government is providing support worth £104 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25 to help households with the high cost of living, this clearly shows that we will always act to ensure that the most vulnerable get the support they need, and we will continue to keep all our existing programmes under review in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are they taking to prevent children falling into poverty during future economic crises, in response to the conclusions of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December 2023.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent available data, covering 2021/22, shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. From April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by a further 6.7% in line with inflation and the increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households.
The Government has always believed that work is the best way to help families improve their financial circumstances. This approach is based on clear evidence about the important role that work - particularly full-time – can play in reducing the risks of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
This is why, with over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on providing parents with the support they need to move into and progress in work. Parents on Universal Credit who are moving into work or increasing their hours can now get additional support with upfront childcare costs, and we have also increased the childcare costs that they can claim back by nearly 50%, up to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 for two or more children.
To support those who are in work, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) for people aged 21 and over by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour, an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earning of a full-time worker on the NLW.
The Government is providing support worth £104 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25 to help households with the high cost of living, this clearly shows that we will always act to ensure that the most vulnerable get the support they need, and we will continue to keep all our existing programmes under review in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December, and its conclusion that of the 39 OECD and EU countries featured in the report, the UK has seen the largest increase in child poverty since 2014.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The most recent available data, covering 2021/22 shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.
The most recent available OECD data shows that the United Kingdom has a relative poverty rate for 0–17-year-olds comparable to large European countries such as France and Germany and below Australia, the United States and Italy.
The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children.
Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on families of freezing local housing allowance rates for the past three years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No Assessment has been made, however the department works closely with stakeholders, Jobcentres and Local Authorities to understand the impact of its policies on families.
The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) policy is kept under regular review and rates are reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.
In 2020 we spent almost £1 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This significant investment has been maintained ensuring that everyone who benefited continues to do so.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in funding to local authorities for DHPs.
We recognise that rents are increasing. However, the challenging fiscal environment means that difficult decisions have been necessary to ensure support is targeted effectively.
Over 2022-23 and 2023- 24 the Government is providing support in excess of £94 billion to help households with the rising cost of living.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the book by Kate Andersen Welfare That Works for Women? Mothers’ Experiences of the Conditionality within Universal Credit, published in January, what assessment they have made of the impact on families of increasing the job search requirements for lead carers.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Evidence suggests that working substantially reduces the risk of child poverty and growing up in poverty is a strong predictor of children’s education and future earnings.
These measures form one part of a wider package that also improves our childcare offer to support parents into work/into more or better paid work. The wider package is expected to encourage 700,000 lead carers of children on Universal Credit to look for work or increase their hours and will receive additional Work Coach support to do so. Previously they would have had only limited requirements, or no requirements at all.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the book by Kate Andersen Welfare That Works for Women? Mothers’ Experiences of the Conditionality within Universal Credit, published in January, what assessment they have made of their decision to introduce automated sanctions and intensify the conditionality regime for lead carers.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. There are no plans to automate sanctions. However, we have automated the creation of the referral form for claimants who miss mandatory appointments. The referral form will be reviewed by the Work Coach before submitting to the Decision Maker in the normal way.
By introducing the conditionality changes, we are providing increased opportunities for lead carers to engage with their work coach and work-related activity to help them prepare and move towards employment.
As with all policies, we will review these changes to ensure that they are effective and meet the policy intent.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to book by Kate Andersen Welfare That Works for Women? Mothers’ Experiences of the Conditionality within Universal Credit, published in January, what steps they are taking to ensure that work-related requirements are appropriate to parents' caring responsibilities.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to providing the best possible support for all claimants to meet their individual circumstances. Claimants with parental caring responsibilities continue to have tailored commitments agreed based on their personal circumstances and conditionality requirements.
Any work-related requirements are set in discussion with the claimant, tailored to their individual capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable. The guidance available to DWP staff outlines the easements which may be applied to claimants with parental caring responsibilities.
A copy of the Universal Credit guidance is published in the House of Commons library and the department is committed to refreshing it at regular intervals.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any disproportionate impact of the benefit cap on households headed by someone from an ethnic minority.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State has complied with his duties under the Equality Act 2010 and had due regard to the equality impacts when completing the benefit cap review in November 2022.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children who would no longer be in poverty if the benefit cap were (1) abolished, and (2) returned to its original levels.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
The Government firmly believes where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households. We have a range of employment support and advice available from our Work Coaches in Jobcentres to help people to be better off and become less reliant on benefits.
DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents to progress. This requires a system that provides strong work incentives and key support for those who need it, but crucially also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer.
Meanwhile, we can highlight that both rates and numbers of children in absolute poverty (60% of 2010/11 median income, both before and after housing costs) were lower in 2021/22 than in 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 400,000 fewer children in absolute low income after housing costs than in 2009/10.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of people who would no longer be in poverty if the benefit cap were (1) abolished, and (2) returned to its original levels.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the effect of the impact of the removal of the benefit cap on the number of people in poverty. The benefit cap continues to provide a strong work incentive and fairness for hardworking taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable.