Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Paragraph: 28
Poverty is at least partly about a lack of material resources, and most people consider...
Conclusion
Poverty is at least partly about a lack of material resources, and most people consider income to be a core measure of poverty. But definitions of poverty cannot be entirely divorced from the society in which people live. A ‘poverty line’ should relate to the normal expectations of, and the cost of living and participating in, that society. Making a decision about where to draw that line is, however, a matter of judgment. These decisions should nevertheless be informed by what the evidence tells us about the impact of being below that line.
Paragraph Reference:
28
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2016. To keep these poverty measures aligned with what is considered normal or essential today, DWP should review the appropriateness of the base year used in the Government’s ‘absolute low income’ measure and the relevance of questions asked about goods and services in its ‘low income and material deprivation’ measure. DWP should ensure that improvements to the four income-based measures are made in line with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics. The Government will continue to publish all four measures of children in low income as set out in the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 in line with its statutory responsibilities. Analysts continue to review the statistical validity of the absolute poverty low income line and are intending to review the material deprivation goods and services to ensure they are still relevant. We will update the committee about this in due course. The Government develops and releases all statistics in line with the UKSA Code of Practice for Statistics and will continue to do so.