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Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 June 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 July 2011. It was answered by Maria Miller (Conservative) on Wednesday, 6 July 2011 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Poverty: Children

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children were living in poverty in a household which included a couple in (a) each year since 1997 and (b) each of the last four quarters for which figures are available.
Answer

Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. HBAI uses household (rather than family) income adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living.The following table shows the number and proportion of children living in couple families in households with income below 60% of contemporary median income before housing costs (BHC). Data are provided for each year between 1997-98 and 2009-10. This information is not available on a quarterly basis.

Table: Numbers and proportions of children in couple families in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of contemporary median income before housing costs (BHC)
Number (million) Proportion (%)
1997-98 2.0 21
1998-99 2.0 20
1999-2000 1.8 19
2000-01 1.7 17
2001-02 1.7 17
2002-03 1.7 17
2003-04 1.7 17
2004-05 1.6 16
2005-06 1.7 18
2006-07 1.7 18
2007-08 1.8 18
2008-09 1.7 18
2009-10 1.7 17
Notes:
1. These statistics are based on households below average income (HBAI) data available at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk-asd-index.php?paqe=hbai_arc
2. Data are sourced from the Family Resources survey and covers Great Britain up to 1997-98 and the United Kingdom from 1998-99, with estimates for Northern Ireland imputed for the years 1998-99 through 2001-02. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years.
3. Disposable household income is adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.
4. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.
5. Numbers of people in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000, while proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
6. Figures have been presented on a before housing cost (BHC) basis. For BHC figures, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, buildings insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income.
7. The household level poverty threshold is defined as the 60% of contemporary median equivalised disposable household income.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
63716; 530 c1226-7W
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Children Poverty
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk