Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of children in the UK who live in a household in debt in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The Government does not hold this information.

The Government carefully monitors trends in household finances in order to inform policy making to help people manage their money well, encourage them to save, and access support if they need to get their finances back on track. It does so by working closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and engages regularly with a range of other stakeholders on their research and findings.

The FCA conducts a biennial Financial Lives Survey of 16,000 adults which provides a comprehensive insight into the finances of the UK population. The latest findings from the survey were published in February 2021. MaPS monitor financial difficulty through an annual survey of 22,000 people. MaPS will publish the results of the 2021 Debt Need Survey early next year.