Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the level of child poverty across the UK.

The latest available data on in-work poverty shows that in 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works.   Compared with 2010, there are nearly 1 million fewer workless households and almost 540,000 fewer children living in workless households in the UK. Since 2010, there are also 200,000 fewer children in absolute poverty before housing costs.

This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty.  With a record 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.

Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs has protected, supported and created jobs across the country. This includes our Way to Work campaign, which between January 31 and June 21, we estimate has seen at least 485,000 unemployed Universal Credit claimants have moved into work.