Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children's benefits change in line with the cost of living.

The Government is committed to tackling the root causes of child poverty and disadvantage. We know that children living in workless households have significantly poorer outcomes than those in working families.

We are incentivising work for those who can and providing support to working families. Since April 2016, the Universal Credit childcare element covers up to 85% of eligible childcare costs, compared with 70% in Working Tax Credit. We introduced 15 hours of free childcare for working families with children aged 3 and 4 and have now doubled this to 30 hours a week in England, worth up to £5,000 per child. The number of children living in workless households is now at its lowest level since comparable records began.

Where families face additional costs and barriers to work because of disability and caring responsibilities, we have increased premiums for disabled children in line with inflation.