Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Paragraph: 29
We heard compelling evidence describing why a lack of material resources in childhood matters and...
Conclusion
We heard compelling evidence describing why a lack of material resources in childhood matters and the impact it has on child development and their future outcomes. But defining poverty in income terms does not mean that the Government’s response to poverty should neglect the underlying causes of it. A holistic approach to child poverty should target the income poverty itself and the factors that lead to it or are made worse by it.
Paragraph Reference:
29
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
DWP should consolidate its statistical publications on income-related poverty and wider social deprivations to create a single dashboard of indicators of child poverty which logically describe the evidence-based causes and consequences of child poverty. DWP should, in doing so, be careful to keep its core income-related measures of poverty separate from indicators which describe wider social deprivations. DWP should align work on a single dashboard of indicators with household income data publications from the Office for National Statistics. DWP should continue to liaise with other countries, universities, and international organisations in developing a single dashboard for reporting income-related measures of poverty and the wider social deprivations on which the Government currently reports. Working with HMRC and other UK producers of income statistics, DWP should develop a dashboard of child income-related poverty ‘lead’ indicators which are closer to real time and supplement existing survey data sources. DWP should publish this data as part of its child poverty measurement framework. Tackling poverty, especially child poverty, is a cross-government priority. DWP is one of several producers of statistical publications on social deprivations and poverty. Other departments including DfE, DHSC and the ONS have responsibility in this space as tackling poverty requires cross-government effort. The Government liaises with various organisations and other countries to draw on the latest available evidence. The ONS are leading on the development of an interactive tool where users can explore the complex landscape of income and earnings statistics in one location.