Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children under five years old living in poverty.

HM Treasury use the ‘Household below average income (HBAI)’ statistics published by the Department for Work and Pensions to determine the number of children living in low-income households.

Tackling child poverty will always be a priority for the government. The government’s view is that work remains the best route out of poverty: children in households where all adults are working are five times less likely to be in relative low income (before housing costs) than those in workless households.