§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate the Government have made of the number of children living in poverty who lived outside the 20 per cent. most deprived wards in each year since 1997. [187369]
§ Mr. PondThe Government's figures for children in low income households are available in "Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 2002–03". This information is not available below regional level. The report is available in the Library.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government(a) expect to meet and (b) have met their target for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the first quarter of 2004; and if he will make a statement. [186805]
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§ Mr. PondThe Government have a PSA target to reduce the number of children in low-income households by at least a quarter by 2004, as a contribution towards the broader target of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.
Between the baseline year of 1998–99 and 2002–03, the number of children in low income households has fallen by 500,000 before housing costs and 600,000 after housing costs. We will report on the target in spring 2006 when the data for 2004–05 become available.
The latest available data (2002–03) do not reflect the introduction of new tax credits in April 2003 or the increase in the child element of the child tax credit in April 2004. We are broadly on course to meet the PSA target.