Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Paragraph: 48
The Government legislated for the statutory monitoring of worklessness and educational attainment indicators in the...
Conclusion
The Government legislated for the statutory monitoring of worklessness and educational attainment indicators in the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. It reports performance against these indicators as part of a wider set of ‘Helping Workless Families’ indicators. The Government argued that indicators of worklessness and educational attainment directed attention towards the underlying causes of child poverty. Measures of worklessness and educational attainment are certainly useful as part of a wider framework which assesses the causes and consequences of income poverty. But they are not a substitute for measuring poverty. Moreover, we know that most children in income poverty are in working households. We also know that family circumstances and income poverty have a significant impact on educational outcomes.
Paragraph Reference:
48
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Department of Health and Social Care to inform how it might better estimate the health and well-being impacts of future changes to social security affecting children and families. This Government remains committed to publishing its annual Households Below Average Income publication in March 2022 which covers the first year of the pandemic, subject to the usual checks on data quality. The large household surveys which inform our poverty publications – the Family Resources Survey and Understanding Society – have continued to run during the pandemic, despite significant challenges. This Government also continues to monitor and collect a variety of evidence, including data and external research about the impacts of the pandemic. DHSC is the Department leading the Shared Outcomes Fund project and will coordinate publication decisions.