Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the Institute for Fiscal Studies report, Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2017–18 to 2021–22, what steps they will take to prevent the projected increase in the level of absolute child poverty.

Employment is key to helping people out of poverty and our welfare and tax reforms are designed to support people into employment. Employment is at historically high levels and the number of children living in a household where no one is working is 608,000 lower than it was in 2010.

This Government is committed to action that will make a meaningful difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged children and families. Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families, published on 4 April, set out a framework for a continued focus on improving children’s outcomes, now and in the future. A copy of this report is attached.