Children: Poverty

(asked on 30th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2019-20, published by Loughborough University Centre for Research and Social Policy in May 2021, if she will commission a report to identify the reasons for the North East experiencing the largest increase in England in child poverty from 2014-15 to 2019-20.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 7th July 2021

No.

The Loughborough University Centre for Research and Social Policy report ‘Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2019/20’ makes an assessment of poverty figures based on relative poverty. This Government believes, and has always believed, that absolute poverty is a better measure of living standards than relative poverty which can provide counter-intuitive results. In particular, relative poverty tends to fall when median income shrinks, such as during economic downturns, which is particularly relevant in the current circumstances.

To monitor poverty for different groups and regions the Department publishes the annual Households Below Average Incomes (HBAI) publication which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2020

This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2020/21. This included around £7.4 billion of Covid-related welfare policy measures.

As the economy recovers, our ambition is to help parents move into, and progress in, work as quickly as possible, based on clear evidence around the importance of parental employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty. The In Work Progression Commission published their report on the barriers to progression for those in persistent low pay on 1 July 2021. Government will consider the recommendations and respond later in the year.

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