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1717038

registered interest
date	09/05/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the two-child benefit cap on child poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL4544
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2024 answer text <p>It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the effect of the impact of the two-child limit on the number of children in poverty.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/05/2024 14:49:59 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1700696

registered interest
date	15/04/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 27 March (HL3520), why it is not possible to undertake a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Leicester
uin	HL3765
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>We do not have the data to fully measure health and well-being behavioural impacts that may have resulted from the two-child limit.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 24/04/2024 16:01:52 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4947 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Leicester

1699235

registered interest
date	26/03/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following the child poverty statistics published on 21 March, what plans they have to initiate a cross-government strategy to address child poverty.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon
uin	HL3625
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>The Department for Work and Pensions already works consistently across Government to support the most vulnerable households. This includes a cross-government senior officials’ group on poverty.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 08/04/2024 15:05:07 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4290 label Biography information for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon

1698299

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following the release of data showing that the number of children living in absolute poverty has risen by the highest rate in 30 years, what steps they are taking to address the increase in child poverty rates.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL3603
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2024 answer text <p>These statistics cover 2022/23, a year when war in Ukraine and global supply chain challenges led to unexpected and high rates on inflation, averaging 10% over the year. These factors are reflected in the statistics. In response to these pressures, the Government provided an unprecedented cost of living support package which helped to shield households from the impact of inflation. Analysis shows that the Government’s cost of living support prevented 1.3 million people from falling into absolute poverty after housing costs in 2022/23. That includes 300,000 children, 600,000 working-age adults and 400,000 pensioners.</p><p> </p><p>Since the period covered by these statistics, the Government has taken firm action to support families on the lowest incomes. The Government has spent around £276bn through the welfare system in 2023/24, including around £125bn on people of working age and children. We took action to support those on the lowest incomes by uprating benefits and State Pensions by 10.1% from April 2023. We are continuing to support people in 2024/25 by uprating working age benefits by 6.7% and raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30<sup>th</sup> percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.</p><p> </p><p>With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than those where all adults work.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 08/04/2024 15:00:05 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1698026

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Markham on 11 March (HL Deb col 1802), and taking account of the latest Households Below Average Income data, which shows a 300,000 increase in the number of children living in absolute poverty in the past year, what assessment they have made of the impact on health and well-being of the two-child limit for child benefit; and what assessment they have made of the strengths and weaknesses of using the measure of absolute poverty rather than relative poverty.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Leicester
uin	HL3520
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2024 answer text <p>It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.</p><p> </p><p>Child Benefit continues to be paid for all children in eligible families.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Relative poverty sets a threshold as a proportion of the UK median income and moves each year as average income changes.</p><p>Typically, a household is in relative poverty if its income is less than 60 per cent of the median household income.</p><p>Absolute poverty, by our definition, is a threshold as a proportion of the UK average income in a given year (2010/11) and moves each year in line with inflation.</p><p> </p><p>This government prefers to look at Absolute poverty over Relative poverty as relative poverty can provide counter-intuitive results.</p><p>Relative poverty is likely to fall during recessions, due to falling median incomes. Under this measure, poverty can decrease even if people are getting poorer.</p><p>The absolute poverty line is fixed in real terms, so will only ever worsen if people are getting poorer, and only ever improve if people are getting richer.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 27/03/2024 16:34:59 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4947 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Leicester

1681318

registered interest
date	10/01/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are they taking to prevent children falling into poverty during future economic crises, in response to the conclusions of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December 2023.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL1410
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>The most recent available data, covering 2021/22, shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. From April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by a further 6.7% in line with inflation and the increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30<sup>th</sup> percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has always believed that work is the best way to help families improve their financial circumstances. This approach is based on clear evidence about the important role that work - particularly full-time – can play in reducing the risks of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.</p><p> </p><p>This is why, with over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on providing parents with the support they need to move into and progress in work. Parents on Universal Credit who are moving into work or increasing their hours can now get additional support with upfront childcare costs, and we have also increased the childcare costs that they can claim back by nearly 50%, up to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 for two or more children.</p><p>To support those who are in work, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) for people aged 21 and over by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour, an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earning of a full-time worker on the NLW.</p><p>The Government is providing support worth £104 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25 to help households with the high cost of living, this clearly shows that we will always act to ensure that the most vulnerable get the support they need, and we will continue to keep all our existing programmes under review in the usual way.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL1412 question first answered 22/01/2024 15:57:55 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1681320

registered interest
date	10/01/2024
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December 2023, and its finding that the UK has seen the greatest increase in child poverty out of the 40 countries featured in the report; and what steps they are taking to prevent a further increase.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL1412
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>The most recent available data, covering 2021/22, shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. From April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, working age benefits will rise by a further 6.7% in line with inflation and the increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30<sup>th</sup> percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has always believed that work is the best way to help families improve their financial circumstances. This approach is based on clear evidence about the important role that work - particularly full-time – can play in reducing the risks of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.</p><p> </p><p>This is why, with over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on providing parents with the support they need to move into and progress in work. Parents on Universal Credit who are moving into work or increasing their hours can now get additional support with upfront childcare costs, and we have also increased the childcare costs that they can claim back by nearly 50%, up to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 for two or more children.</p><p>To support those who are in work, on 1 April 2024, the Government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) for people aged 21 and over by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour, an increase of over £1,800 to the gross annual earning of a full-time worker on the NLW.</p><p>The Government is providing support worth £104 billion over 2022-23 to 2024-25 to help households with the high cost of living, this clearly shows that we will always act to ensure that the most vulnerable get the support they need, and we will continue to keep all our existing programmes under review in the usual way.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL1410 question first answered 22/01/2024 15:57:55 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1678281

registered interest
date	14/12/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the UNICEF report Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth, published on 6 December, and its conclusion that of the 39 OECD and EU countries featured in the report, the UK has seen the largest increase in child poverty since 2014.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL1205
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2023 answer text <p>The most recent available data, covering 2021/22 shows that relative poverty rates for children remain unchanged since 2009/10. On an absolute basis, which better represents changes to actual living standards, the rate after housing costs has fallen by 5 percentage points across the same period. There were 400,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs in 2021/22 compared to 2009/10.</p><p> </p><p>The most recent available OECD data shows that the United Kingdom has a relative poverty rate for 0–17-year-olds comparable to large European countries such as France and Germany and below Australia, the United States and Italy.</p><p> </p><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.</p><p> </p><p>Our approach to tackling poverty is based on clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where its full time, reduces the risk of poverty. In the financial year 2021 to 2022, children living in households where all adults work were around 5 times less likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those living in workless households.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 20/12/2023 16:55:03 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1642804

registered interest
date	07/06/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of children who would no longer be in poverty if the benefit cap were (1) abolished, and (2) returned to its original levels.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
uin	HL8285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government firmly believes where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households. We have a range of employment support and advice available from our Work Coaches in Jobcentres to help people to be better off and become less reliant on benefits.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents to progress. This requires a system that provides strong work incentives and key support for those who need it, but crucially also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, we can highlight that both rates and numbers of children in absolute poverty (60% of 2010/11 median income, both before and after housing costs) were lower in 2021/22 than in 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 400,000 fewer children in absolute low income after housing costs than in 2009/10.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 19/06/2023 15:33:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1580996

registered interest
date	25/01/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Poverty: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group Child of the North Child Poverty and the Cost of Living Crisis, published on 23 January, what steps they are taking to help mitigate the effects of the increased cost of living for families in areas with the highest levels of child poverty.
tabling member printed	Lord Pendry
uin	HL5095
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend over £245bn through the welfare system in 2022/23 including £111bn on people of working age.</p><p> </p><p>In 2023/24, subject to parliamentary approval, we are uprating all benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. In order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount.</p><p /><p>The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living this winter and is taking action to help. The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap - reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support the current Household Support Fund, running in England from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, is providing £421 million of funding. The devolved administrations have been allocated £79 million through the Barnett formula.  The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need to help with the significantly rising cost of living. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the amended Energy Price Guarantee will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24.</p><p> </p><p>With 1.16 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into, and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children. To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023 subject to parliamentary approval, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 02/02/2023 17:36:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	457 label Biography information for Lord Pendry