The York Research Database

The relative poverty rates are increasing and Ministers have switched their comments to the the absolute indicator based on 2010/11 thresholds which have not yet increased, though the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggest they will on present policies. The absolute and relative poverty rates are only two indicators. We have been studying child poverty gaps for the last three years and this analysis for the Work and Pensions Committee shows that on all measures child poverty gaps have increased since 2010 and this is evidence that the welfare safety net has been becoming less and less effective.