Children in poverty: Measurement and targets

Work and Pensions Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 12 Jan 2021 Closed: 2 Feb 2022 Parliament page
This inquiry is looking at children in poverty. This is a complex subject, so the Committee’s work will be in several parts. For the first part of the inquiry, we are interested in finding out: - how child poverty can most accurately be measured and defined - what the impact … Read more
22 Recommendations
15 Conclusions
1 Report
5 Oral sessions
1 Letter
5 Events
Activity timeline 8 events
6 Dec
2021
Report published
22 Sep
2021
Report published
16 Jul
2021
Correspondence
23 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
26 May
2021
Oral evidence
12 May
2021
Oral evidence
14 Apr
2021
Oral evidence
3 Mar
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
23 Jun 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Donna Ward · Department for Work and Pensions Elaine Squires · Department for Work and Pensions Will Quince MP · Department for Education
26 May 2021
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Work and Pensions
Anne Longfield Bruce Adamson Ed Humpherson · UK Statistics Authority Mike Brewer · Resolution Foundation Robert Joyce · Institute for Fiscal Studies The Baroness Stroud · Social Metrics Commission
12 May 2021
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Work and Pensions
Charlotte Ramsden · Association of Directors of Children’s Services Gavin Mullin · Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council Peter Tutton · StepChange Sabine Goodwin · Independent Food Aid Network Una Summerson · Contact-for families with disabled children Will Tuckley · London Borough of Tower Hamlets
14 Apr 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Charlotte McDonough · Save the Children Professor David Taylor-Robinson · University of Liverpool Professor Paul Bywaters · University of Huddersfield Rebecca Jacques · Children’s Society Sophie Howes · Child Poverty Action Group Yasmin Rehman · Juno Women’s Aid
3 Mar 2021
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Work and Pensions Committee
Dr Jose Manuel Roche · University of Oxford Dr Keetie Roelen · Institute of Development Studies Dr Kitty Stewart · London School of Economics & Political Science Edward Davies · Centre for Social Justice Helen Barnard · The Trussell Trust
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Third Report - Children in poverty: Measurement and targets HC 188 22 Sep 2021 37 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
9 results
Clear
6 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
We recommend that DWP should commission a systematic review of the latest evidence on child...
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
Government Response
The government stated that the Secretary of State's focus on material deprivation will inform its approach to poverty measurement. The commissioning of a systematic review of child income poverty, as recommended, is still under consideration.
Department for Work and Pensions
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13 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
DWP should consolidate its statistical publications on income-related poverty and wider social deprivations to create...
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 … Read more
Government Response
The government states tackling poverty is a cross-government priority and ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics, rather than DWP consolidating its own publications into a single child poverty dashboard.
Department for Work and Pensions
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14 Conclusion Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
The Social Metrics Commission has proposed a new approach to measuring poverty which has widespread...
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 … Read more
Government Response
The government responded that the work on developing supplementary experimental statistics for measuring poverty, which the Committee expressed concern about, is 'still under consideration.'
Department for Work and Pensions
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17 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
DWP should continue to liaise with other countries, universities, and international organisations in developing a...
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 … Read more
Government Response
The government states ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics, and that the government liaises with various organisations and countries for evidence, rather than DWP leading the development of a single dashboard.
Department for Work and Pensions
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26 Conclusion Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
DWP has valuable administrative data that can be used to improve understanding of child poverty...
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 … Read more
Government Response
The government intends to conduct more detailed research into the possibility of making improvements to existing data shares and investigating local authority reasons for additional data, acknowledging concerns about DWP's data sharing approach.
Department for Work and Pensions
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27 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
DWP should liaise with other government departments to identify lessons for how it might take...
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) … Read more
Government Response
The government intends to conduct more detailed research into the possibility of improving existing data shares, including investigating local authority concerns, rather than committing to specific actions or timelines outlined by the committee.
Department for Work and Pensions
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33 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
DWP should write to us by June 2022 setting out precisely what additional subgroup analysis,...
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 … Read more
Government Response
The government deferred the request, stating it is not possible to provide a precise list of subgroups for analysis by June 2022 as it depends on data collected, response rates, and final sample sizes from the FRS boost starting April 2022.
Department for Work and Pensions
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34 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
Income poverty data on children whose parents have no recourse to public funds is limited.
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 … Read more
Government Response
The government redirects responsibility for research and analysis on children of families with no recourse to public funds, stating that the Home Office has the policy lead on this issue.
Department for Work and Pensions
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35 Recommendation Deferred
Third Report - Children in poverty…
We recommend that DWP works with the Office for National Statistics to produce robust income-related...
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
Government Response
The government redirected the recommendation, stating that the Home Office has the policy lead on No Recourse to Public Funds, rather than committing DWP to produce the requested data.
Department for Work and Pensions
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Government Response AI assessment · 37 of 22 classified
Accepted 8
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 8
Deferred 9
Not Addressed 9
Rejected 2
Total 22 recs + 15 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
16 Jul 2021 Correspondence with Minister for Welfare Delivery - follow up on oral evidence on Children in poverty: Measurements and targets
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