Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has criticised the way child poverty is measured, implying that poverty is about more than income alone.
Speaking at an event at the London School of Economics, Mr Duncan Smith said there were problems with classifying child poverty as a family on 60 per cent or less than the median income.
‘If you sit below it you are poor, if you sit above it, you are not’, he said.
The work and pensions secretary went on to say that income can never be the ‘whole story’ as it ignores so many other indicators of well-being.
He implied he was against increasing the income of some parents, for instance those with drug or gambling problems, as he said they would be more likely to spend the money furthering their habit, rather than on their children.
Increasing the benefit of a family where no one has ever worked would also be detrimental, he said, as it could push them further into dependency and increase the chance that their child will follow the same path as their parents.
However, Mr Duncan Smith did admit that for some people, including those with severe disabilities, income from the welfare system will always play a vital role.
He went on to say that using the narrow income measure to determine child poverty has driven a number of perverse incentives in the way that governments have approached policy.
An example he used was the Government’s incentive to move people who are just below the poverty line to just above it, something he said was cheap and simple to do to hit poverty targets. He called the tactic a ‘poverty plus a pound’ approach as it did just enough to keep poverty figures moving in the right direction, but without changing anyone’s lives.
Another incentive he said was for Government to focus on lifting income through higher welfare payments, particularly those aimed at children. Mr Duncan Smith claimed this is helpful in the ‘public presentation’ of Government policy, but is unlikely to make a real difference to outcomes.
The work and pensions secretary’s comments came as the Prime Minister indicated on ITV’s This Morning that child poverty is set to increase by 100,000 over the coming years.
Speaking about the way child poverty is measured, David Cameron said, ‘I think there is a real problem with the way we measure child poverty. I think what we’ve got to start doing is measuring how we help children out of poverty and keep them out.’
‘If you sit below it you are poor, if you sit above it, you are not’, he said.
The work and pensions secretary went on to say that income can never be the ‘whole story’ as it ignores so many other indicators of well-being.
He implied he was against increasing the income of some parents, for instance those with drug or gambling problems, as he said they would be more likely to spend the money furthering their habit, rather than on their children.
Increasing the benefit of a family where no one has ever worked would also be detrimental, he said, as it could push them further into dependency and increase the chance that their child will follow the same path as their parents.
However, Mr Duncan Smith did admit that for some people, including those with severe disabilities, income from the welfare system will always play a vital role.
He went on to say that using the narrow income measure to determine child poverty has driven a number of perverse incentives in the way that governments have approached policy.
An example he used was the Government’s incentive to move people who are just below the poverty line to just above it, something he said was cheap and simple to do to hit poverty targets. He called the tactic a ‘poverty plus a pound’ approach as it did just enough to keep poverty figures moving in the right direction, but without changing anyone’s lives.
Another incentive he said was for Government to focus on lifting income through higher welfare payments, particularly those aimed at children. Mr Duncan Smith claimed this is helpful in the ‘public presentation’ of Government policy, but is unlikely to make a real difference to outcomes.
The work and pensions secretary’s comments came as the Prime Minister indicated on ITV’s This Morning that child poverty is set to increase by 100,000 over the coming years.
Speaking about the way child poverty is measured, David Cameron said, ‘I think there is a real problem with the way we measure child poverty. I think what we’ve got to start doing is measuring how we help children out of poverty and keep them out.’