PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Poverty: Children (18 March 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the levels of child poverty in Bristol North West in the context of the decision to uprate universal credit by 3.1 per cent.

Asked by:
Darren Jones (Labour)

No assessment has been made.

The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found in the annual publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).

This Government is committed to reducing child poverty and supporting all low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. In 2019/20, children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty (before housing costs) than children in a household where nobody works.

We are giving the lowest earners a pay rise by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April 2022, and making permanent changes to Universal Credit, worth £1000 a year on average, to two million in-work claimants.

To support low income families further, we have increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers to £4.25, helping eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins. We are also investing over £200m a year from 2022, to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English Local Authorities. The Chancellor has extended the Household Support Fund to £1 billion to help vulnerable families.

Answered by:
David Rutley (Conservative)
23 March 2022