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.

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.