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<p /> <p>The Government does not produce forecasts of the number of children living
in income poverty as the number of children in poverty is dependent on factors which
cannot be reliably predicted, such as the median income.</p><p> </p><p>The Government
does measure annual child poverty statistics through the National Statistics Households
Below Average Income (HBAI) series. Estimates of the number and proportion of children
in relative and absolute low income in the UK have consistently been reported since
1998/99; these are available for each financial year up to 2012/13, the latest period
for which estimates are available.</p><p> </p><p>There has been no assessment of the
impact on child poverty of the combined tax and benefit changes announced since May
2010. Available survey data does not allow the Government to robustly assess the combined
effects of tax and benefit policy on households with children.</p><p> </p><p>However,
this Government has taken unprecedented steps to assess the effects of its policy
decisions across the distribution of household income, by publishing analysis of the
cumulative effects of the tax and welfare measures announced at each fiscal event
since the June Budget 2010. The latest analysis can be found in Chapter 2 of the attached
report.</p>
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