Local Child Poverty Measurement Frequently Asked Questions

Transcription

1 Local Child Poverty Measurement Frequently Asked Questions Measurement of child poverty How does the Government measure child poverty at a national level? How is local child poverty measured? What sources of income are included/excluded in the local measures? How does the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) differ to the revised local child poverty measure? The 2011 Child Poverty Strategy discusses wider indicators what data is available?... 5 Breakdowns of local child poverty data What time period does this data cover? Why is there a time lag on the data? When will the next set of local child poverty statistics be published? What geographies are available? Local child poverty data is currently produced for England; are there any plans to produce similar data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Can I analyse the local measure data by other variables such as family characteristics, ethnicity and disability? For the revised local child poverty measure, you publish breakdowns based on the age of children. How do the age of child and age of youngest child tables differ? Can I measure local in work poverty? Can I get the underlying data? Where can I obtain information on producing a list of the 152 local authorities in England?... 9 The future of local child poverty statistics What is the status of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and The National Indicator Set (NIS)? Will the publication of the local child poverty statistics continue? How will the introduction of Universal Credit affect the local child poverty measure?... 9 Miscellaneous and further information/support Can I map the local child poverty data? You recently published a new measure of severe poverty, do you plan to develop a similar severe poverty measure at local authority level? Do you also plan to publish local measures of persistent poverty and material deprivation? My question is not covered here where can I go for further information on local child poverty measures? For any further queries, please contacts.cpu@childpovertyunit.gsi.gov.uk

2 Measurement of child poverty 1. How does the Government measure child poverty at a national level? The Child Poverty Act 2010 set a duty on the Government to publish a child poverty strategy outlining its plans to meet the four income based targets by 2020 to eradicate child poverty. 1 These 4 income based targets are based on the proportion of children living in households experiencing: Relative low income - The proportion of children living in households where income is less than 60 per cent of median household income before housing costs for the financial year. The target is less than 10 per cent. Combined low income and material deprivation - The proportion of children living in households that experience material deprivation where income is less than 70 per cent of median household income before housing costs for the financial year. The target is less than 5 per cent. Absolute low income - The proportion of children living in households where income is less than 60 per cent of median household income before housing costs in adjusted for prices. 2 The target is less than 5 per cent. Persistent poverty - The proportion of children living in relative low income for at least 3 out of the last 4 years. The target is to be set in regulations by Child poverty figures are reported annually in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) and Low Income Dynamics (LID) series, both published by the Department for Work and Pensions. 3 The HBAI series presents statistics for low income in the UK based on information from the Family Resources Survey, which collects income data from representative samples of UK households each year. It uses household income adjusted (or equivalised ) for household size and composition, to provide a proxy for standard of living, with breakdowns by various characteristics. Historically LID has used the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), this has been subsumed into the larger Understanding Society survey which is the expected source for the measurement of persistent poverty in the future. 4,5 Development of a new suite of indicators As part of the Child Poverty Strategy 2011 (A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families Lives) a new suite of indicators were established, including 15 measures across three themes - family resources (including the four targets in the Act), family circumstances and children s life chances Until data for 2010/11 becomes available, absolute poverty is measured against incomes in 1998/

3 Within the family resources theme a new measure of severe poverty has been developed in 2009/10, which is defined as the proportion of children who experience material deprivation and live in households where income is less than 50 per cent of median household income before housing costs for the financial year. This was published for the first time in HBAI 2009/10. In-work poverty is one of the measures within family circumstances and is defined as the proportion of children growing up in families where at least one person works but are still in relative poverty. From 2009/10, HBAI also includes statistics on family structures. Specifically it measures the proportion of children living in families headed by (1) couples who are married/in a civil partnership; (2) couples who are cohabiting; and (3) lone parents. 2. How is local child poverty measured? National and regional estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. As they are based on survey data, child poverty estimates published in HBAI only allow breakdowns to regional level and analysis by local authority is not possible. As the HBAI data cannot be produced below regional level, administrative data is used to measure poverty at local level, though this does not provide the kind of breakdowns that are possible with HBAI. There are two measures of local child poverty which estimate the number and proportion of children in low income poverty in each local authority. The local child poverty proxy measure (formerly NI 116 proxy measure) relates to children in out-of-work benefit households. This measure calculates the proportion of children living in families in receipt of out of work benefits. The out of work benefits are Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance, Pension Credit and Employment Support Allowance. The proportion of children in poverty is calculated using the out of work benefits data and ONS midyear population estimates. Data is published to Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) level. Data is available from 2004 to 2010 and can be accessed via the following link: /child-poverty-data The revised local child poverty measure (formerly known as NI 116) calculates the proportion of children living in families in receipt of out of work (means-tested) benefits or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income. The means-tested out of work benefits are Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit. The proportion of children in poverty is calculated using Child Benefit data. This measure is most closely related to the national relative low income measure. Data is published annually to LSOA level and is available from 2006 to The data can be accessed via the following link

4 3. What sources of income are included/excluded in the local measures? The proxy measure represents the proportion of children dependent on a parent or guardian who is claiming one or a combination of the following out of work benefits: Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance and Pension Credit. There is a considerable overlap in the breakdown by benefit type, for example, a claimant of Income Support may also be claiming Incapacity Benefit. This data captures children once, irrespective of the combination of benefits being claimed by parents or guardians. For the revised measure, Income Support, Income Based Job Seekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit are included for the out of work (means-tested) benefits. For other families, the following sources of income are included: gross earnings, investment income, occupational pensions, state pension, contributions based Jobseeker s Allowance, tax credits and child benefit. From 2008 Carers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Statutory Sick, Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Pay were also included to better reflect the full range of taxable incomes. The proportion of children in poverty is calculated using Child Benefit data. 4. How does the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) differ to the revised local child poverty measure? The revised local child poverty measure is defined as the proportion of children living in families in receipt of out of work (means-tested) benefits or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income. IDACI is defined as children living in households receiving Income Support/ Jobseekers Allowance/Incapacity Benefit/Pension Credit or those not in receipt of these benefits but in receipt of Working Tax Credits (WTC)/Child Tax Credits (CTC) with an equivalised income below 60 per cent of the national median before housing costs. The IDACI and revised local child poverty measure are based on the same data source but have the following differences: - The current IDACI data (IDACI 2010) is actually based on 2008 data, which can often cause confusion. The latest revised local child poverty measure data we have is for The IDACI is only produced every 3 years as part of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), with the latest update being the IDACI 2010, which is based on 2008 data. The revised local child poverty measure is published annually and will continue to produce this local measure of child poverty. - The IDACI definition of a child is an individual aged 0-15 years of age. The revised local child poverty measure uses the 0-19 definition of a child (i.e. the child benefit definition) as that is the standard definition of a child (this is what all of our measures use and how a child is defined in the Child Poverty Act).

5 For further information on each measure, please see the Technical notes: Revised local child poverty measure - IDACI The 2011 Child Poverty Strategy discusses wider indicators what data is available? The indicator set in the Child Poverty Strategy 2011 covers 15 measures across three themes of family resources (includes the 4 indicators in the act), family circumstances and children s life chances. For further details please see Annex A in the National Child Poverty Strategy The Child Poverty Unit (CPU) has identified a basket of indicators to help local authorities understand the broad range of factors contributing to child poverty locally and has produced a data tool which brings together these indicators and is designed to aid analysis of the basket of indicators at local authority level 8. The CPU is currently updating the basket of indicators and will be talking to local authorities on the updated basket in the near future. The Needs Assessment Toolkit has also been developed to help local authorities understand family poverty locally and provide the underpinning information and insights to develop strategies that can reduce, and mitigate the effects of, child poverty. 9 Breakdowns of local child poverty data 6. What time period does this data cover? The proxy measure is based on a snapshot at May. Data is available from 2004 to The revised measure is based on a snapshot at August. Data is available from available from 2006 to Both measures provide a snapshot of the stated month in the year and do not necessarily provide a reflection of the whole year

6 7. Why is there a time lag on the data? The local child poverty proxy measure is calculated using DWP s children in out of work benefit households data and ONS mid year population estimates. The availability and processing of child benefit data and ONS mid year population estimates results in a one year time lag on this data. These data sources can be accessed via the following links: Children in out of work benefit households ONS population estimates: The revised local child poverty measure is calculated using child benefit data, out of work benefits and tax credits data. Importantly, this measure relies on finalised tax credits awards to provide complete information on family income and circumstances for the entire year. Therefore, there is a two year lag on the publication of this measure due to the availability of finalised tax credits data. We publish the data as quickly as possible but time lags occur due to the availability of data, processing times and quality assurance of the data. 8. When will the next set of local child poverty statistics be published? The latest data available is for 2010 and can be accessed here /child-poverty-data Data for 2011 is due for publication in late summer The latest data available is for 2009 and can be accessed here Data for 2010 is due for publication in autumn What geographies are available? Data is available for England, Scotland and Wales at the following geographic levels: region, county, local authority, ward, parliamentary constituency and Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA)/Data Zone. The 2009 data is available for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at the following geographic levels: region, county, local authority, ward, parliamentary constituency and Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA)/Data Zone/SOA.

7 Statistics for only include local child poverty figures for England. 10. Local child poverty data is currently produced for England; are there any plans to produce similar data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? The revised local child poverty measure (formerly known as NI 116) calculates the proportion of children living in families in receipt of out of work (means-tested) benefits or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent of median income. Data is published annually to LSOA level and is available for England from 2006 to Data for 2009 was published on 29 September 2011 and also includes local child poverty data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The data can be accessed via the following link In addition to this measure Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also produce country specific measures of deprivation: Scotland There are a few proxy indicators which the Scottish Government would recommend to individuals interested in poverty. These include the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation income domain and an indicator which is produced from HMRC tax credit data. For further information please see the "income and poverty - data sources and suitability" section of the SG website Welfare/IncomePoverty/income-data-sources If you wish to discuss this further please get in touch with the Scottish Government at social-justice-analysis@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Wales The Welsh Government publish LSOA and LA level data (and some other aggregations) of their Index of Multiple Deprivation income indicator. This is the percentage of the population in receipt of a variety of income-based benefits (including working tax credits for those whose income is less than 60 per cent of the Wales median). The same data is available for children. The data can be found here: If you wish to discuss this further please contact the Welsh Government at stats.inclusion@wales.gsi.gov.uk or call Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2010 contains an Income Deprivation Affecting Children measure at Super Output Area level. For further information on the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2010 see: Website: deprivation.nisra@dfpni.gov.uk 11. Can I analyse the local measure data by other variables such as family characteristics, ethnicity and disability? For the proxy measure, the proportion of children in poverty is based on children aged 0-15 years of age. Other age breakdowns can be calculated using the DWP

8 out-of-work benefit households data and ONS mid year population estimates. For the revised measure, the breakdowns that are currently available are: - whether claiming tax credits or IS/JSA - couple/lone parent family - number of children - age of child - age of youngest child Breakdowns by ethnic group and disability are not currently available. Data on ethnicity is not of sufficient quality for publication. We are currently exploring the possibility of including disability breakdowns in future data sets. Disability breakdowns (based on the disability element in tax credits) are likely to involve small numbers and therefore data could only be published to local authority level. 12. For the revised local child poverty measure, you publish breakdowns based on the age of children. How do the age of child and age of youngest child tables differ? The age of child table reflects the age of each individual child in the family, whereas, the age of youngest child table reflects the youngest child in the whole family. So for example, in a family of three children where the youngest child is aged four, the age of child table will show a total of one for the 0-4 age group but the age of youngest child table will show a total of three children for the 0-4 age group. This is consistent with the national child poverty breakdowns provided in Households Below Average Income series and at a local level will potentially add value since the age of the youngest child in the family will in many ways drive the type of support families may need. 13. Can I measure local in work poverty? This measure calculates the proportion of children living in families in receipt of out of work benefits and does not include any statistics on in work poverty. Whilst this measure includes elements of in work poverty we do not have detailed income data to isolate data on in-work poverty. This is because there will be people who are working but not working sufficient hours to qualify for tax credits or who are eligible but not claiming. When analysing the 2008 data there was considerable variation in the number of children in families who were in receipt of means tested out of work benefits or who were in receipt of tax credits where income was below 60 per cent of median. In most authorities, around three quarters of those in poverty were in families in receipt of out of work benefits. Where rates were considerably different to this, it may point towards an above average issue of in work poverty (if lower) or worklessness (if higher). 14. Can I get the underlying data? We are unable to provide the underlying data for the local child poverty measure. Due to the need to preserve claimant confidentiality, the amount of data we make

9 available is controlled. 10 We are only able to publish data on the number/proportion of adults claiming out of work benefits, child tax credits and working tax credits down to LSOA level. Bespoke analysis of revised local child poverty data is possible although there may be a charge depending on the level of complexity and the resources required to produce. If you would like to discuss your requirements please contact the Child Poverty Unit at contacts.cpu@childpovertyunit.gsi.gov.uk or HMRC through at Where can I obtain information on producing a list of the 152 local authorities in England? The local child poverty proxy measure and revised local child poverty measure (from 2009) include statistics based on 152 local authorities in England. The 152 top tier local authorities are comprised of metropolitan districts, non-metropolitan districts, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs, the Isles of Scilly and the City of London. Analysis and statistics produced by the Child Poverty Unit are based on 152 local authorities as covered by the duty in the Child Poverty Act. Statistics in the child poverty data sheets are also listed by the 152 local authorities. 11 For further information on how this list is produced, please contacts.cpu@childpovertyunit.gsi.gov.uk The future of local child poverty statistics 16. What is the status of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and The National Indicator Set (NIS)? Will the publication of the local child poverty statistics continue? The National Indicator Set and Local Area Agreements stopped on 31 March However, the Child Poverty Unit intends to continue to publish the local child poverty measures data. 17. How will the introduction of Universal Credit affect the local child poverty measure? We aim to publish the local child poverty measures in the future. As part of this work we will need to determine how this will be achieved on the transition to Universal Credit. Miscellaneous and further information/support 18. Can I map the local child poverty data? Yes, it is possible to map the child poverty data using the ONS geographical codes. Many areas map child poverty rates at various geographic levels and consider the of indicators.xls

10 distribution of child poverty rates within the selected areas. Analysing data in this way will help local authorities understand the differing levels of poverty within given areas. Examples of such maps can be found on the Child Poverty Community of Practice (CoP) website We have used the revised local child poverty measure statistics to map the 2008 child poverty rates and changes in child poverty rates from 2006 to 2008, at local authority level. 19. You recently published a new measure of severe poverty, do you plan to develop a similar severe poverty measure at local authority level? Do you also plan to publish local measures of persistent poverty and material deprivation? In the child poverty strategy, published on 5 April 2011, the Government accepted Frank Field s recommendation to develop a new measure of severe poverty and defined what it would be. Children are defined as living in severe poverty if they are living in a household with an equivalised income below 50 per cent of median Before Housing Costs which also experiences material deprivation. Persistent poverty is defined as the proportion of children living in relative low income poverty for at least 3 out of the last 4 years. We do not have survey data at a local level to be able to reproduce measures of severe poverty, persistent poverty and material deprivation at a local level. However, we are looking into other data sources that may promote our understanding of these measures and help us estimate the different types of deprivation at a local level. 20. My question is not covered here where can I go for further information on local child poverty measures? There are several ways to gain further information: The Child Poverty Community of Practice (CoP) is an interactive platform for online problem-solving, peer-support and information sharing for those working to tackle and prevent child poverty. This is a free resource with over 800 members. The CoP contains guidance on policy and best practice, features case studies and links to more online resources. It contains an extensive library of local child poverty needs assessments, consultations and strategies which local areas have shared. Log on to the Child Poverty Community of Practice (CoP) website at Access the child poverty needs assessment toolkit at Contact the Child Poverty Unit with your query at contacts.cpu@childpovertyunit.gsi.gov.uk