Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the number of in-work households living in poverty.

It is clear that work is the best route out of poverty, as the rate of poverty in working households is one third of that among workless households. The latest data for 2016/17 shows there were 2.4 million working households in absolute low income before housing costs. Since 2010 the number of people in absolute poverty has fallen by 1 million, including 500,000 working age adults.