Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 24 April (HL3765), what plans they have to collect data to evaluate the success of the two-child benefit cap, especially in relation to the statements in the 2015 Impact Assessment which suggest the two-child limit would (1) encourage parents to consider their readiness to support an additional child, (2) help people move into sustained employment, and (3) provide incentives to have fewer children.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are no such plans to collect data to evaluate the success of the two-child benefit cap. The Department committed to publishing statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children annually. The latest statistics were published in July 2023 and can be accessed at: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents into work. This requires a balanced system that provides strong work incentives and support for those who need it, but that also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer and many working families who do not see their incomes rise when they have more children.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 27 March (HL3520), why it is not possible to undertake a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We do not have the data to fully measure health and well-being behavioural impacts that may have resulted from the two-child limit.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Markham on 11 March (HL Deb col 1802), and taking account of the latest Households Below Average Income data, which shows a 300,000 increase in the number of children living in absolute poverty in the past year, what assessment they have made of the impact on health and well-being of the two-child limit for child benefit; and what assessment they have made of the strengths and weaknesses of using the measure of absolute poverty rather than relative poverty.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.
Child Benefit continues to be paid for all children in eligible families.
Relative poverty sets a threshold as a proportion of the UK median income and moves each year as average income changes.
Typically, a household is in relative poverty if its income is less than 60 per cent of the median household income.
Absolute poverty, by our definition, is a threshold as a proportion of the UK average income in a given year (2010/11) and moves each year in line with inflation.
This government prefers to look at Absolute poverty over Relative poverty as relative poverty can provide counter-intuitive results.
Relative poverty is likely to fall during recessions, due to falling median incomes. Under this measure, poverty can decrease even if people are getting poorer.
The absolute poverty line is fixed in real terms, so will only ever worsen if people are getting poorer, and only ever improve if people are getting richer.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are evaluating the impacts of the various household support schemes delivered by county councils and unitary authorities.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Authorities have the local ties and knowledge, making them best placed to identify and help those most in need. County Councils are expected to work together with District Councils to provide support and to ensure the funding meets its objectives by identifying those most in need.
Authorities provide management information to DWP which has been used for all the various household support schemes to evaluate how successful The Fund has been in providing support to households.
The published management information for the Household Support Fund covering the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 reports total grant allocation and spend, number of awards and the percentage spent on families with children, which relates to the condition that at least 50% of that grant be spent on families with children.
Management information for subsequent schemes will be published in due course.