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Written question asked by Lord Ouseley (Crossbench) on Wednesday, 6 December 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 20 December 2017. It was answered by Baroness Buscombe (Conservative) on Wednesday, 20 December 2017 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Poverty: Children

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for future advances in social mobility of the finding by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that almost 37 per cent of children will fall below the relative poverty line by 2021.

Answer

Employment is key to helping people out of poverty and to make a real and lasting change to the lives of disadvantaged families and children. Our welfare and tax reforms are designed to incentivise employment and to support people to progress in work. Employment is now at near-record levels and the number of children living in a family where no one is working is 608,000 lower than it was in 2010. Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families, published on 4 April, set out a framework for a continued focus on improving children’s outcomes, now and in the future.

The Department does not forecast estimates of low income, but the next HBAI publication for 2016/17 data has been pre-announced and will be published by the end of March 2018. The government is committed to continue to publish this series on an annual basis.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL3943
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Children Poverty Social mobility
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk