§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development the average percentage of(a) people and (b) children, living in poverty for each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [111067]
§ Mr. BayleyPoverty and social exclusion are complex multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of people's lives—their income, health, housing, the quality of the environment, opportunities to work and to learn. There is no single measure which can capture the complex problems which need to be overcome.
The most commonly used measures of poverty in international comparisons are income based. International comparisons are not available annually. The following table gives figures for the proportion of people below 50 per cent. of mean equivalent household disposable income for members of the Organisation for Economic 178W Co-operation and Development (OECD) for which data are available. The source of these is the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), August 1998.
Percentage of population below 50 per cent. of equivalent mean household disposable income for certain OECD countries Country Year Percentage Australia 1994 17.0 Belgium 1992 7.1 Canada 1994 14.4 Czech Republic 1992 1.7 Denmark 1992 7.8 Finland 1995 5.7 France 1994 14.9 Germany 1994 13.7 Hungary 1994 14.7 Italy 1995 18.7 Luxembourg 1994 7.2 Netherlands 1991 9.9 Norway 1995 8.1 Poland 1995 15.6 Spain 1990 15.6 Sweden 1995 9.2 United Kingdom 1995 19.5 United States 1997 26.2 Source:
LIS Low Income Measures as computed by K. Vleminckx (Luxembourg Income Study—LIS), August 1998
Studies showing child poverty rates across countries are also subject to data availability. The following table quotes draft results from "Child poverty across the industrialized world: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study", Bradbury and Jantti, August 1999. This study presented results for children in households with an equivalent disposable income less than 50 per cent. of the overall median population income. The results are therefore not directly comparable with those in the first table, as median income differs from mean income.
Percentage of children in households below 50 per cent. of equivalent median household income for certain OECD countries Country Year Percentage Australia 1994 17.1 Belgium 1992 6.2 Canada 1994 16.0 Czech Republic 1992 1.8 Denmark 1992 5.9 Finland 1991 3.4 Germany 1994 11.6 Hungary 1994 11.5 Italy 1995 21.2 Luxembourg 1994 6.3 Netherlands 1991 8.4 Norway 1995 4.5 Poland 1995 14.2 Spain 1990 13.1 Sweden 1992 3.7 United Kingdom 1995 21.3 United States 1994 26.3 Notes:
1. Results for individual countries are not accurate to the degree of precision presented in the tables. Comparisons between countries may be affected by differences in the extent to which households in the datasets are representative of the population, and in the accuracy of the income data and its editing.
2. Results for children are sensitive to the precise way in which household incomes are adjusted for household size and composition; the figure for the United Kingdom is higher than official UK estimates for the "50 per cent. of median income" income level.