PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Poverty: North Wales (14 November 2023)

No assessment has been made of the number of adults and children living in destitution in North Wales.

This government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families and has overseen significant falls in absolute poverty since 2009/10.

In 2021/22 there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10, including 400,000 fewer children, 1 million fewer working age adults and 200,000 fewer pensioners. Rates of absolute poverty after housing costs for individuals in families in receipt of Universal Credit have also fallen by 12ppt since 2019/20.

In Wales, in the three years to 2021/22 there were an average of 500,000 individuals (or 16%) in absolute poverty after housing costs, including 100,000 children. This is 200,000 fewer than in 2009/10, or a 6 percentage point decrease.

Poverty statistics for all individuals are not available at the constituency level. The numbers of children living in low income families before housing costs by constituency are published in the Children in Low Income Families Publication, available here.

The UK Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. We are providing total support of over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising bills.

We are providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact for the devolved administrations, to enable a further extension to the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England over the 2023/24 financial year. As with all government spending in England, the HSF has led to consequential increases in Barnett funding, which the DAs spend at their discretion. As a result of the Household Support Fund extension, Wales has been allocated £50m.

With almost one million job vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting people, including parents, to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2021/22 children living in workless households were 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty, after housing costs, than those where all adults work.

To help people into work, our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.

To support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) increased by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW. In addition, the voluntary in-work progression offer started to roll-out in April 2022. It is now available in all Jobcentres across Great Britain. We estimate that around 1.4m low-paid benefit claimants will be eligible for support to progress into higher-paid work.

To further support parents into work, on 28th June 2023, the maximum monthly amounts that a parent can be reimbursed for their childcare increased by 47%, from £646.35 for one child and £1,108.04 for two or more children to £950.92 and £1,630.15 respectively. Importantly, we can now also provide even more help with upfront childcare costs when parents move into work or increase their hours. This means that a parent who needs this additional financial help can now be provided with funding towards both their first and second set of costs (or increased costs), upfront, thereby easing them into the UC childcare costs cycle.