Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people are not better off out of work than in work.

Work is the best route out of poverty and the government is ensuring that work always pays. Increases in the National Living Wage (NLW) have handed full-time minimum wage workers a pay rise of over £2,000 since the introduction of the NLW, and changes to the personal allowance will see 1.2m individuals taken out of income tax altogether by 2018-19 (compared to 2015-16).

We have also made sure the welfare system is fairer and rewards work. Universal Credit (UC) replaces six benefits with one and applies a single taper to claimants’ benefit awards, removing the poor incentives of the old system to ensure that it always pays more to be in work than out of work.

The Government’s childcare offer is also ensuring parents are supported into work. UC provides support for childcare costs worth up to £1108 per month for two or more children. Eligible working families in England are also entitled to 30 hours free childcare for three and four-year olds, worth up to £5000 per year. A lone parent only has to earn around £6,500 a year to be able to access this entitlement and a couple just over £13,000, making work pay for parents.