asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What is their estimate of the likelihood of achieving their target to halve child poverty by 2010 compared with 1999.
My Lords, we remain absolutely committed to meeting our target. Our policies so far have made a considerable impact, but we recognise that there is more to do. The measures announced recently in Budget 2007, the Pre-Budget Report and the Comprehensive Spending Review will assist in that, as will the DWP taking forward its plans to support more parents into work.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply and I commend the Government for having put the reduction of child poverty so high on their social agenda. However, at least two big problems remain. One is investment. Most observers calculate that £4 billion extra per year will be needed to reach the 2010 target. The other is that government policies have simply not reached the children of the in-work poor, or the working poor. What will the Government do about that?
My Lords, my noble friend is right to acknowledge the progress that we have made. In 1997, the UK had the highest rate of relative child poverty in the EU. Between 1998-99 and 2005-06, the UK saw the biggest child poverty reduction in Europe. Six hundred thousand children have been lifted out of relative poverty and the number of children living in absolute poverty has more than halved, from 3.4 million to 1.6 million, a fall of 1.8 million children. My noble friend is right to point out that there is an issue concerning the so-called working poor. The new PSA that the departments have published focuses on that. The problem is one of low pay; the national minimum wage has helped with that, but there is more to do around skills and encouraging progression in employment.
My Lords, let us see whether we can get the broadcasters to report on something other than red squirrels tonight. A hero of the noble Lord, Lord Giddens, said in 1999:
“Our historic aim will be for ours to be the first generation to end child poverty forever, and it will take a generation. It is a twenty-year mission, but I believe it can be done”.
Well, if you believe Tony Blair, you will believe anything. The Minister quoted European figures. Does he accept that, according to the most recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, only three countries are worse than Britain for child poverty—Italy, Portugal and Slovakia—and that Scandinavian child poverty rates are less than half our own? Does he accept that, after 10 and a half years of Labour government, the rich have had a bonanza and the poor have had pennies?
No, my Lords, I do not accept that, and I deprecate the manner in which the noble Lord asked his question. The Government have made significant progress on child poverty, and we are determined to beat our commitment to eradicate it within a generation, which is why we are focused right across government in a holistic way on dealing with all the issues that need to be addressed, in terms not only of income and employment but of all the other things that impact on material deprivation. We need to deal with this not only for the current generation but in order to break the cycle of deprivation.
My Lords, given the close association between child poverty and disability of both children and parents—for example, 25 per cent of all children in poverty have a disabled parent—will the Government invest further in initiatives along the lines of the Think Family agenda to ensure that all service providers take every opportunity to signpost families to the disability living allowance? Will they consider extending DLA entitlement periods for disabled children with non-fluctuating conditions?
My Lords, our general approach to helping disabled people into employment and out of poverty is that work is the best route out of poverty for families. The Government have introduced and funded a number of programmes. Access to Work is a particularly successful one, which helps and sustains disabled people in work. There are other initiatives, including the local employment partnerships and city strategies, which all focus on the most disadvantaged in the labour market. We want to make sure that the benefits available are properly accessible and that we promote them as actively as we can.
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that we are wrestling with a very difficult issue? Child poverty is a relative measure, based on children below 60 per cent of median average earnings. This means that, as earnings rise by average wage rates but benefits rise only by prices, if the Government do nothing at all, even though the country is getting wealthier, the number of poor children must increase. Therefore, does my noble Friend agree that we must not only ensure that poor children of lone parents get maintenance and that lone parents get back into the labour market, but recognise that half of all poor children are in large families in which the parents are often in work? We may need to rebalance the tax credit system away from supporting the first child and rather more towards supporting the later children, as most of Europe does.
My Lords, the IPPR made some recommendations on that latter point. Obviously, the Government will consider all these issues and deal with them appropriately at Budget and PBR time. My noble friend is right that the measure that we use, which is relative low income, is 60 per cent of current median income, rather than average income. However, that is not the only measure that we use. She is also right to say that if all we did was increase benefits by inflation, not earnings, there would be, in a sense, a downwards escalator. However, that is not all that we do. We have announced child benefit increases in excess of inflation and earnings and we have introduced changes to the child element of the child tax credit above linked earnings. As she is aware, we have identified an increase in the disregards in child maintenance arrangements, up to £20 this year and £40 in 2010. Those will all help to address the issue that she rightly identifies.
My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that poverty is not only about money, but about spiritual, social, intellectual and moral welfare as well? Sending a mother out to work is not always the right answer for these children.
My Lords, I agree that poverty is about a whole range of matters. That is why we have invested an additional £2 billion in public services to alleviate child poverty, focusing on childcare provision, educational attainment, health inequalities and a range of other matters. We believe that work is the best route out of poverty, particularly for lone parents. There are 330,000 more lone parents in employment than in 1997, making more than 1 million lone parents in work. That is making a significant difference to poverty.