Debts and Poverty
(asked on 22nd March 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people in (a) poverty and (b) debt; and what steps she is taking to reduce this figure.
National Statistics on the number of people in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication. Latest statistics, covering up until 2020/21, on the number of people in low income in the UK can be found here:
In the UK in 2020/21, there were 8.8 million people living in absolute poverty, before housing costs, down from 9.9 million in 2009/10.
The Government regularly monitors personal debt levels by working closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and engages regularly with a range of stakeholders in the debt advice sector on their research and findings.
The FCA conducts a biennial Financial Lives Survey which provides a comprehensive insight into the finances of the UK population. The latest findings from the survey were published in February 2021, which also analysed the impact of the pandemic on people’s finances. MaPS monitors financial difficulty through their research, in particular the Debt Need Survey. MaPS published high level findings from their 2021 Debt Need Survey on 23 February 2022.
To help people in problem debt, the Government provided record levels of debt advice funding to the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) for free-to-client debt advice provision in England in 2020/21 and in this financial year. Similar levels of debt advice funding will be maintained as we move into the next financial year (2022/23).
In addition to this, the Breathing Space scheme launched in England and Wales last year, offering people in problem debt a pause of up to 60 days on most enforcement action, interest, fees and charges, and encouraging them to seek professional debt advice. The Government continues to develop the Statutory Debt Repayment Plan (SDRP), a statutory agreement that will enable a person in problem debt to combine their debts into a single repayment that they make over a manageable time period, while receiving legal protections from creditor action for the duration of their plan.
This Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £240bn through the welfare system in 2021/22 including £110bn on people of working age, including around £59 billion on dedicated support for disabled people and people with health conditions in Great Britain. More than £129 billion is spent supporting pensioners.
We are giving the lowest earners a pay rise by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April 2022 and making permanent changes to Universal Credit worth £1000 a year on average to two million in-work claimants.
With around 1.3 million vacancies across the UK our focus is firmly on supporting people into and to progress in work as the best way to substantially reduce the risks of poverty. Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has been expanded by £500 million, and the new 'Way to Work’ campaign is a national drive to get half a million people who are out of work into jobs in the next four months.
As announced in the Spring Statement, the government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for vulnerable households most in need. From April, the government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion. In England, £421 million will be provided to extend the existing Household Support Fund, whilst the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.