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22 July 2008 : Column 1200W—continued

Poverty

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of (a) 55 to 59 year olds, (b) 60 to 64 year olds and (c) 65 to 69 year olds lived in households with below 60 per cent. of median income (i) before and (ii) after deducting household costs in each year since 1997. [207147]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is given in the following tables.

Table 1: Number and proportion of 55 to 59-year-olds in households below 60 per cent. of median income
			Before housing costs		After housing costs
Coverage	Year	Total number of 55 to 59 year olds (million)	Number below 60% of median income (million)	Percentage below 60% of median income	Number below 60% of median income (million)	Percentage below 60% of median income
GB	1997-98	2.9	0.5	16	0.5	18
	1998-99	3.0	0.5	16	0.5	18
	1999-2000	3.1	0.5	15	0.5	17
	2000-01	3.1	0.5	16	0.6	18
	2001-02	3.3	0.5	16	0.6	18
UK	2002-03	3.7	0.6	15	0.6	17
	2003-04	3.9	0.6	16	0.7	18
	2004-05	3.8	0.6	15	0.6	16
	2005-06	3.9	0.6	15	0.6	17
	2006-07	3.9	0.7	17	0.7	18
Source: Households Below Average Income, DWP

Table 1: Number and proportion of 60 to 64 9-year-olds in households below 60 per cent. of median income
			Before housing costs		After housing costs
Coverage	Year	Total number of 60 to 64 year olds (million)	Number below 60% of median income (million)	Percentage below 60% of median income	Number below 60% of median income (million)	Percentage below 60% of median income
GB	1997-98	2.7	0.5	19	0.6	22
	1998-99	2.7	0.5	19	0.6	21
	1999-2000	2.8	0.5	19	0.6	22
	2000-01	2.8	0.5	18	0.6	21
	2001-02	2.8	0.6	21	0.6	22
UK	2002-03	2.9	0.6	19	0.6	21
	2003-04	3.0	0.6	19	0.6	20
	2004-05	3.0	0.5	18	0.6	19
	2005-06	3.1	0.6	18	0.5	18
	2006-07	3.2	0.6	18	0.6	18
Source: Households Below Average Income, DWP

22 July 2008 : Column 1201W

22 July 2008 : Column 1202W

Table 1: Number and proportion of 65 to 6 9-year-olds in households below 60 per cent. of median income
			Before housing costs		After housing costs
Coverage	Year	Total number of 65 to 6 9 year olds (million)	Number below 60% of median income (million)	Percentage below 60% of median income	Number below 60% of median income (million)	Percentage below 60% of median income
GB	1997-98	2.6	0.5	19	0.6	22
	1998-99	2.5	0.5	20	0.5	21
	1999-2000	2.5	0.5	19	0.6	22
	2000-01	2.5	0.5	20	0.5	21
	2001-02	2.5	0.4	18	0.5	20
UK	2002-03	2.5	0.5	19	0.5	20
	2003-04	2.5	0.5	18	0.4	18
	2004-05	2.6	0.4	17	0.4	16
	2005-06	2.7	0.5	18	0.4	16
	2006-07	2.6	0.5	18	0.4	16
Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income data. 2. Data for Northern Ireland have only been collected since 2002-03, so the information shown is for the United Kingdom from 2002-03 to 2006-07, and for Great Britain for 1997-98 to 2001-02. 3. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 4. The reference period for Household Below Average Income figures is single financial years. 5. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or "equivalised") for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 6. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors. 7. Figures have been presented on both a Before Housing Cost and After Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Cost, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income, while for After Housing Cost they are. 8. The Government's preferred measures of low income for pensioners are based on incomes measured after housing costs. Measuring income on an after housing costs basis is appropriate, as two thirds of pensioners own their property outright and so face lower housing costs to meet from their current income while still deriving value from their home. This is different to the current working age population and to the situation for pensioners in the past. Considering pensioners' incomes compared to others after deducting housing costs allows for more meaningful comparisons of income between working age people and pensioners, and between pensioners over time 9. As part of PSA Delivery Agreement 17 three indicators of low income poverty will be monitored: the percentage of pensioners below 60 per cent. contemporary median income, 50 per cent median income and 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices. 10. Numbers of individuals in each age range have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 individuals, while proportions of individuals in each age range have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Source: Households Below Average Income, DWP

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of children were living in working households earning less than 60 per cent. of median income (a) before and (b) after housing costs in each English region in each year since 1990. [217099]

Mr. Timms: Specific information regarding low income for the UK is available in “Households Below Average Income 1994/95 to 2006/07”. This annual report, which is a National Statistics publication, includes the numbers and proportions of individuals, children, working age adults and pensioners with incomes below 50 per cent., 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. of median income, and the proportions in persistent poverty.

Available information has been placed in the Library.

Poverty: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children in each London borough were living in poverty in each of the last 10 years, broken down by ethnicity. [219275]

Mr. Timms: The information is not available.

Our child poverty statistics, published in the “Households Below Average Income” series, allow a breakdown of child poverty by Government office region. The “Households Below Average Income Series” cannot provide information below the level of Government office region.

Work is currently under way to develop an indicator of child poverty at the local level that will measure the proportion of children in families living in poverty in both out of work and in work families. It is intended that this indicator will be used as the local area agreement child poverty indicator from April 2009 onwards.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of children who would be lifted out of poverty if there was 100 per cent. take-up of entitlement to (a) council tax benefit, (b) income support, (c) housing benefit and (d) jobseeker's allowance. [221689]

Mr. Timms: There are many possible measures of poverty. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that low income is central to any poverty measurement. Definitions of low income households are set out in the annual National Statistics publication Households Below Average Income. This reports numbers of individuals in households below or persistently below 50 per cent., 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. of median household income before and after deducting housing costs.

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