Poverty

(asked on 28th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their commitment to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, what steps they are taking to ensure that people living more than 50 per cent below the poverty line in the UK are not left behind.


Answered by
Baroness Buscombe Portrait
Baroness Buscombe
This question was answered on 4th April 2019

This government is committed to delivering a sustainable long-term solution to poverty, by building a strong economy and ensuring that the benefit system works with the tax system and the labour market, to support employment and higher pay.

The Government does not publish data on those living more than 50% below the poverty line as comparisons of household income and expenditure suggest that those households reporting the very lowest incomes may not have the lowest living standards, meaning such a measure is likely to be unreliable.

The Department for Work and Pensions, through its Jobcentre Plus network and local delivery partners, provides support for vulnerable customers or those with complex needs to address barriers so that they can move forward with their lives.

A report on progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda will be presented to the UN’s High Level Political Forum in July as part of the UK’s Voluntary National Review. The Department for Work and Pensions is leading work across Government to assess progress against the first of these goals: ‘End poverty in all its forms everywhere’.

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