Third Report - Children in poverty: Measurement and targets

We recommend that DWP publishes a detailed and full response to all the recommendations made by the Office for Statistics Regulation in its review of income- based poverty statistics by March 2022. (Paragraph 11) Defining child poverty, identifying its causes … Read more We recommend that DWP publishes a detailed and full response to all the recommendations made by the Office for Statistics Regulation in its review of income- based poverty statistics by March 2022. (Paragraph 11) Defining child poverty, identifying its causes and consequences Show less

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We recommend that DWP should commission a systematic review of the latest evidence on child income poverty, its definitions, its causes and its consequences. It should use this review to prompt a better dialogue with the public, charities and others, … Read more We recommend that DWP should commission a systematic review of the latest evidence on child income poverty, its definitions, its causes and its consequences. It should use this review to prompt a better dialogue with the public, charities and others, and inform future cross-government work on measures to address child poverty. The findings from this review should be published by July 2022. (Paragraph 31) Measuring child poverty Show less

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We recommend that the Department for Work and Pensions broadens the scope of its ‘Helping workless families indicators’ to measure the quantity and quality of work in families and communities, and the quality of family support so that they better … Read more We recommend that the Department for Work and Pensions broadens the scope of its ‘Helping workless families indicators’ to measure the quantity and quality of work in families and communities, and the quality of family support so that they better address the challenge of in-work poverty and the additional stresses often endured by families in income poverty. Show less

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DWP should set out clearly, in response to this report, what work it now plans to do on the development of supplementary experimental statistics using the SMC’s methodology and a timescale for completing this work. It should also explain how … Read more DWP should set out clearly, in response to this report, what work it now plans to do on the development of supplementary experimental statistics using the SMC’s methodology and a timescale for completing this work. It should also explain how the Secretary of State’s focus on aspects of material deprivation will inform its approach to poverty measurement. Show less

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The Government should commit to developing and implementing a long-term, cross- departmental strategy to address child poverty now and in the future. This should be informed by findings from the Inter-Ministerial Group on the cost of living and, more broadly, … Read more The Government should commit to developing and implementing a long-term, cross- departmental strategy to address child poverty now and in the future. This should be informed by findings from the Inter-Ministerial Group on the cost of living and, more broadly, by the latest evidence on the key drivers of poverty. Show less

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Past income-based targets for child poverty have helped to focus minds across Government. But, like all targets, they can ‘distort’ the policy response, and some witnesses believed that this happened in the final years of the 2010/11 child poverty target … Read more Past income-based targets for child poverty have helped to focus minds across Government. But, like all targets, they can ‘distort’ the policy response, and some witnesses believed that this happened in the final years of the 2010/11 child poverty target as the emphasis shifted towards income transfers. To counter this risk, it is important to have a broad set of targets covering income and other policy measures. The Government must also be committed to reducing child poverty, with a clear strategy which is supported by measurable objectives and strong delivery plans. Show less

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As part of a new cross-departmental strategy, the Government should set clear, ambitious and measurable objectives and plans for reducing child poverty. The Government should report to Parliament annually on progress in implementing its child poverty objectives and plans. (Paragraph … Read more As part of a new cross-departmental strategy, the Government should set clear, ambitious and measurable objectives and plans for reducing child poverty. The Government should report to Parliament annually on progress in implementing its child poverty objectives and plans. (Paragraph 84) The quality, timeliness and completeness of child poverty data Show less

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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 … Read more 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. Show less

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DWP should commission research examining, in depth, the impacts of the pandemic on children living in families in low income. It should publish the results of this 54 Children in poverty: Measurement and targets analysis alongside its March 2022 Households … Read more DWP should commission research examining, in depth, the impacts of the pandemic on children living in families in low income. It should publish the results of this 54 Children in poverty: Measurement and targets analysis alongside its March 2022 Households Below Average Income statistics. DWP should also publish early findings from its longer-term project with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office for National Statistics to understand the differential impacts of the pandemic. DWP should use the lessons from its exercise with the 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. Show less

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We recommend that DWP works with the Office for National Statistics to produce robust income-related poverty and income data on children and their families with no recourse to public funds. DWP should write to us by June 2022 to give … Read more We recommend that DWP works with the Office for National Statistics to produce robust income-related poverty and income data on children and their families with no recourse to public funds. DWP should write to us by June 2022 to give an update on its progress in addressing this unsustainable gap. Show less

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We recommend that DWP works with external academics, local authorities and other government departments to identify options for reflecting the cost of housing in its local area estimates of children in low income families. DWP should write to us by … Read more We recommend that DWP works with external academics, local authorities and other government departments to identify options for reflecting the cost of housing in its local area estimates of children in low income families. DWP should write to us by June 2022 to update us on its analysis of options. (Paragraph 126) 56 Children in poverty: Measurement and targets Show less

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The Office for Statistics Regulation has recently made recommendations for improving income-based poverty statistics. DWP has said that it is considering its response to these recommendations, working with others in Government.

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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 …

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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 …

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DWP’s analysis of the drivers of child income poverty from 2014 concluded that a key factor was the quantity and quality of paid work in families. Since this analysis, the labour market has continued to evolve and more children in income poverty are now in working families. We have seen …

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Poverty measurement is important because it involves translating abstract concepts and definitions into very concrete expressions of who is poor and who needs extra help. Backed by a legal obligation to do so, the UK Government measures and reports Children in poverty: Measurement and targets 51 child poverty through a …

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Ministers have made clear to us that they consider absolute income poverty to be the most useful measure. They have been dismissive of the Government’s own measure of relative income poverty. But both measures have advantages and disadvantages. The Secretary of State is of course right to say that a …

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Ministers should reaffirm their commitment to measuring poverty through all four measures of children in low income as set out in the Welfare Reform and Work Act

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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 …

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DWP’s key collections of income-related poverty and wider social deprivation statistics are all published separately. The Office for National Statistics also publishes separate statistics on household income. There is no consolidated publication and no clear narrative setting out how the measures all link together. The current arrangements are a missed …

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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 …

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The Social Metrics Commission has proposed a new approach to measuring poverty which has widespread support. It was therefore welcome that the Government announced in 2019 that it would develop supplementary experimental statistics building on the Commission’s methodology. But that work seems to have ground to a halt. This was …

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The UK can learn from international approaches to poverty measurement, including from those countries and organisations which have developed multidimensional measurement approaches that bring together measures of income poverty and wider social deprivations. Some multidimensional approaches blend measures of income poverty with wider deprivations to produce a single index. There …

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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. (Paragraph 66) A strategy for child poverty

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We heard strong views that the UK now needs a cross-government strategy for child poverty. We welcome the creation of a new Inter-Ministerial Group to identify practical measures to address the cost of living. But a focus on the cost of living suggests only a partial response to child poverty, …

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The pandemic has brought into sharp relief the delay in publishing poverty data through DWP’s ‘Households Below Average Income’ statistics. DWP and HMRC have a wealth of administrative data on benefits, tax and earnings. DWP can make better use of these to produce ‘closer to real-time’ information on child income …

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The 12-month delay in producing income poverty statistics means that DWP data on the proportion of children in low income for the year to March 2021 will not be published until March 2022. We were encouraged to hear that DWP is working with the Department of Health and Social Care …

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DWP has valuable administrative data that can be used to improve understanding of child poverty and support a better response to it. To make the best use of this resource, DWP will need to collaborate with others in Government, local authorities and academics. However, we have heard significant concerns from …

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DWP should liaise with other government departments to identify lessons for how it might take a more constructive approach to sharing data related to child poverty. DWP should write to us by June 2022 updating us on its progress (a) in working with the Office for National Statistics, Administrative Data …

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DWP and the Office for National Statistics both have survey and statistical research projects on income. There is a risk that these overlap, reducing the quality of the overall data collected and contributing to reduced clarity in Government reporting of poverty data.

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DWP should work with other UK producers of income statistics to co-ordinate the current suite of survey and data analysis to strengthen the breadth and depth of work and improve reporting clarity. DWP should write to us by March 2022 setting out the additional steps it has taken to integrate …

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Gaps in data on inescapable costs that households face, including those associated with disability and debt, reduce the accuracy of data about who is in poverty. The Social Metrics Commission has shown leadership in highlighting these matters but is reliant on Government data. Making progress on addressing these gaps will …

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To improve its measurement of income-related poverty, DWP should work with others, including the Office for National Statistics, relevant academics, and children’s charities to identify a list of inescapable household costs and define options for how data on these might be collected. DWP should write to us by June 2022 …

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Gaps in the analysis of income poverty for different ethnic groups caused by small survey samples reduces our understanding of poverty and solutions to it. We Children in poverty: Measurement and targets 55 therefore welcome DWP’s recent decision to increase the sample size of its Family Resources Survey which will …

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DWP should write to us by June 2022 setting out precisely what additional subgroup analysis, including analysis of ethnic minority households, it expects to be able to conduct as a result of the increase in the sample size for its Family Resources Survey.

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Income poverty data on children whose parents have no recourse to public funds is limited. DWP’s Family Resources Survey picks up very small numbers of these children and the Department does not collect significant administrative data on them because their parents are not normally entitled to its benefits and services. …

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Local level data on child income poverty is important to enable national and local governments to plan their services. DWP’s recent work with HMRC to produce local area estimates of children in low income families is welcome, but its usefulness is reduced because the estimates do not include housing costs. …

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