Thank you for contacting me about child poverty.
It is extremely pleasing that there are 1.7 million fewer people in absolute low income compared to 2009/10 - including 400,000 fewer children. I would like to see the continual decrease of those in poverty.
The Government understands that parental employment is the best way to tackle child poverty and improve long-term outcomes for families and children. The latest statistics show that children in households where all adults were in work were around six times less likely to be in absolute poverty than children in a household where nobody works.
To help parents into work, the Government's Back to Work Plan will help people find jobs and manage their health conditions. Alongside this, the Government will continue to provide broad-ranging support for all jobseekers through the Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP), Job Entry Targeted Support, and the Restart scheme.
The Government also increased the National Living Wage (NLW) by 9.7 per cent from April 2023, meaning it has risen from £9.50 per hour to £10.42 per hour. This represents an annual pay rise worth over £1,600 to a full-time worker - the largest cash increase in the UK's (NLW) ever. Additionally, by April 2024, the Government will increase the NLW to £11.44 per hour, which will result in a pay rise for two million people.
To help parents further, changes to childcare announced in the Spring Budget 2023 mean that the Government is extending 30 hours of childcare a week to working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years and paying Universal Credit (UC) childcare costs up front rather than in arrears. Moreover, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85 per cent of their registered childcare costs each month for up to a maximum of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children.
Further, the Government is increasing the Administrative Earnings Threshold from 15 to 18 hours. This is expected to mean that over 100,000 UC claimants, including those in work and on lower earnings and non-working or low-earning partners on UC, will receive more regular support from a Work Coach to help them take active steps to move into work or increase their earnings.
These changes are in addition to reforms to the Universal Credit Taper Rate and Work Allowances, saving working families an additional £1,000 per year on average.
To support low-income families further, the Government has increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers to £4.25, helping eligible low-income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins. There is also an investment of over £200m a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English Local Authorities. The Holiday Activity and Food programme benefitted over 685,000 children last summer.