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<p>The Government will consider the Special Rapporteur’s findings carefully. Although
it disagrees with the conclusion of this interim report, the Government has noted
that the report welcomes the simplification of the benefits system brought in by Universal
Credit and the recent Budget announcements to help tackle in-work poverty.</p><p>The
14 million people in poverty figure used by the Special Rapporteur was taken from
the Social Metrics Commission report “A new measure of poverty for the UK”.</p><p>
</p><p>We welcome the work that the Social Metrics Commission has done. Measuring
poverty is complex, and this report offers further insight into that complexity. We
are engaging with the Social Metrics Commission, who acknowledge that further work
needs to be done (particularly around data availability and quality). We will carefully
consider their recommendations and the detail behind the methodology they have employed
when this has been made available.</p><p> </p><p>DWP publishes a range of measures
that track various aspects of poverty. These include four measures for low income
poverty:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Number of
people in low income (millions)</p></td><td colspan="2"><p>Percentage of people in
low income (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Low Income Measure</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>2016/17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative
Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>10.4</p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Relative
After Housing Cost</p></td><td><p>13.6</p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>22</p></td><td><p>22</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute
Before Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>9.9</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Absolute
After Housing Costs</p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>12.4</p></td><td><p>21</p></td><td><p>19</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>The finding relating to the number of people in destitution is a misinterpretation
of the key finding from a report published by the Joseph Rowntree Trust on 7 June,
2018: “Destitution in the UK, 2018”. This report found that 1.5 million people in
the UK had been destitute at some point during 2017 and also noted that this was a
reduction of 25 per cent compared with 2015.</p><p> </p><p>Under this Government,
income inequality has fallen and remains lower than in 2010; the number of children
in workless households is at a record low; and there are 1 million fewer people in
absolute poverty (before housing costs) compared with 2010, including 300,000 children.</p>
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