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<p>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,
and around £152 billion on pensioners. Of this, around £79 billion will be spent on
benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.</p><p> </p><p>From
April, we uprated benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%, and in order to increase
the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit
cap levels also increased by the same amount.</p><p> </p><p>In 2021/22 there were
1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10,
including 400,000 fewer children, 1 million fewer working age adults and 200,000 fewer
pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>With almost one million job vacancies across the UK, our
focus remains firmly on supporting people, including parents, to move into and progress
in work. This approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment
- particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of poverty.
The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households
were 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty, after housing costs, than those
where all adults work.</p><p> </p><p>Through the ambitious package announced at the
Spring budget we are delivering measures that are designed to support people to enter
work, increase their working hours and extend their working lives.</p><p> </p><p>To
help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including
face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is
specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers
with disabilities or health issues.</p><p> </p><p>To support those who are in work,
from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour
for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW. In addition,
the voluntary in-work progression offer started to roll-out in April 2022. It is now
available in all Jobcentres across Great Britain. We estimate that around 1.4m low-paid
benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work.</p><p>
</p><p>To further support parents into work, on 28<sup>th</sup> June 2023, the maximum
monthly amounts that a parent can<del class="ministerial">HL52</del> be reimbursed
for their childcare increased by 47%, from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for
two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively<strong>.</strong> Importantly,
we can now also provide even more help with upfront childcare costs when parents move
into work or increase their hours. This means that a parent who needs this additional
financial help can now be provided with funding towards both their first and second
set of costs (or increased costs), upfront, thereby easing them into the UC childcare
costs cycle.</p><p> </p><p>This government understands the pressures people are facing
with the cost of living which is why we are providing total support of over £94bn
over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.</p>
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