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30 Mar 2010 : Column 958W—continued
| New deal 25-plus , gateway start year on first option taken | |
| Calendar year | All |
| Notes: 1. Definitions and conventions: Figures are displayed in thousands and rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Time series: calendar years. 3. The latest new deal for young people and new deal 25-plus figures are starting to show the effects of the introduction of the new jobseekers regime and flexible new deal (JRFND). The scheme is being gradually implemented in phase 1 areas from April 2009 and in the remaining phase 2 districts from April 2010. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate. | |
Opposition
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether her Department has undertaken costings of the policies of the (a) Conservative Party and (b) Liberal Democrat party at the request of Ministers or special advisers in the last 36 months. [324240]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend, the Exchequer Secretary (Sarah McCarthy-Fry).
Pensioners: Poverty
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her most recent estimate is of the number of pensioners in poverty in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands. [325083]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to him on 1 March 2010, Official Report, columns 896-97W.
The Government use a basket of three key thresholds of income, after housing costs, to measure pensioner poverty. The most commonly used figures relate to those with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income, after housing costs.
Estimates of poverty, published in the Households Below Average Income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall numbers in poverty at Government Office Region level. Therefore, information is available for the West Midlands Government office region, but not available for the city of Coventry.
Three-year averages are used to report regional statistics as single-year estimates are subject to volatility. Figures are quoted to the nearest 100,000 and percentages are quoted to the nearest whole percentage point.
The latest information relates to the period 2005-06 to 2007-08 in which there were around 200,000 pensioners in poverty (18 per cent.) in the West Midlands Government office region.
Personal Income
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) children, (b) adults of working age and (c) pensioners were living in households with between 30 and 50 per cent. of median income in each year since 1997. [323481]
Helen Goodman [holding answer 22 March 2010]: Between 1998-99 and 2007-08 some 500,000 children were lifted out of relative poverty as measured using the EU standard definition based on 60 per cent. of median income. Measures announced in and since Budget 2007 are expected to lift around a further 550,000 children out of poverty. Absolute poverty has been halved.
Addressing pensioner poverty has been a priority for this Government. We have targeted help on the poorest pensioners, those who need it most, while providing a solid foundation of support for all.
We have made good progress in tackling pensioner poverty. Targeted support, such as pension credit and additional funding for all pensioners has contributed to 900,000 fewer pensioners in relative poverty (measured as below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income after housing costs) in 2007-08 than in 1998-99.
For 1997-98 to 2001-02, only information for Great Britain is available. We have therefore presented information covering Great Britain only.
Information splitting groups with incomes below 50 per cent. of median income is not presented in the Households Below Average Income series as it is an unreliable measure of poverty. Such data for households with an income lower than 50 per cent. of median are not considered to be accurate as an indicator of living standards. These figures are not National Statistics and caution must be applied because those people stating the lowest incomes in the Family Resources Survey, (the underlying data source for the Households Below Average Income series) may not actually have the lowest living standards. Using a threshold of 60 per cent. of median income is in line with international best practice.
Poverty for working age adults is presented after housing costs. Child poverty is presented both before housing costs and after housing costs, and pensioner poverty is presented after housing costs, in line with the relevant public service agreements.
The most commonly used figures relate to those with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income for the three groups.
The information given in the following table should therefore be treated with caution.
| The numbers of children, working-age adults and pensioners in households with incomes between 30 and 50 per cent. of contemporary median income, Great Britain 1997-98 to 2007-08 | ||||
| Million | ||||
| Children | Working-age adults | Pensioner | ||
| BHC | AHC | AHC | AHC | |
| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey. Both the Households Below Average Income series and the Family Resources Survey are available in the Library. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures are single financial years. 4. 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' 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. 5. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development equivalisation factors. 6. The number working-age adults, pensioners and children have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand individuals. 7. Figures are only available covering the United Kingdom from 1998-99. 8. Figures may not sum due to rounding. Source: Households Below Average Income, DWP | ||||
Poverty: Children
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children have been living in poverty in the South West in each year since 1993. [315965]
Helen Goodman: Specific information regarding low income for the UK is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994-95 to 2007-08'. 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. For children, it also contains a measure of combined low income and material deprivation.
Estimates of poverty by region, published in the Households Below Average Income series, begin from 1994-95.
The number and proportion of children living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, on a before-housing-costs basis, are in the table.
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