To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what projection his Department has made of the level of (a) absolute and (b) relative child poverty in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12; and what information his Department holds on the geographical distribution of the increase since 2006-07 in the number of (A) children and (B) adults of working age living in relative poverty after housing costs announced on 7 May 2009. (276514)

The information requested is as follows:

Child poverty projections

The Government do not publish official projections of child poverty into the future due to the uncertainty surrounding the assumptions made around future demography, employment and average earnings, as well as the uprating of tax credits and benefits.

The geographical distribution of poverty

This information can be found in the latest release of Households Below Average Income which is available on the DWP website and in the Library. In this, disaggregation by geographical regions is presented as three-year averages. This presentation has been used as single-year regional estimates are considered too volatile. The most recent available data available since 2006/07 are in the following tables.