What assessment has the Minister made of End Child Poverty's report that concludes child poverty is increasing in Wales?
As is noted in the End Child Poverty’s report, the key levers for tackling child poverty - powers over the tax and welfare system - sit with the UK Government. The benefit cap and the two-child limit have been consistently criticised by Welsh Ministers for breaking the link between need and entitlement. We welcome that the End Child Poverty’s report also highlights the benefit cap and the two-child limit as key actions the UK Government can take to help tackle child poverty here in Wales.
Welsh Ministers strongly believe the social security system should be delivered with compassion, be fair in the way it treats people, and it should be designed so it offers a positive contribution to tackling poverty. Welsh Ministers have urged the UK Government to abolish both the benefit cap and the two-child limit, to support families and give children the best start in life.
The local authority analysis in the report from the End Child Poverty Coalition is disappointing. However, due to the various impacts of the pandemic on the collection of Households Below Average Income data, the DWP warned that the regional HBAI data are unreliable even when pooling three years of data together. In their Children in Low Income Families (CiLIF) Wales summary, the DWP also states that comparisons across years is not advised for FYE 2021.
This means it is not possible to make a valid comparison of child poverty in Wales against child poverty in previous years for data encompassing the first year of the pandemic.