In-work poverty over time
Key points
- Around 300,000 children in London live in low-income households where at least one adult works.
- This is 70,000 more children living in low-income working households than at the end of the 1990s.
The family work status of children in low income in London, over time
Definitions
An 'all working' family is either a lone parent family where the parent works full-time, or a couple family in which one works full-time and the other works at least part0time.
A 'part working' family is either a couple family in which one adult works and the other does not, or a family where all the adults work but part time only.
These definitions come from the official DWP sources.
What does this graph show?
At the end of the 1990s, 240,000 children in London lived in low-income households where at least one adult worked. In 2007/08, the figure was 300,000. Most of these children live in 'part working' families - about 200,000 at the end of the 1990s rising to 260,000 in 2007/08. The number of children in low-income households where all the adults are working has also risen.
These rises call into question the view that work is the only route out of poverty. While working households are less likely to be in poverty than workless households, this does not mean that work in itself necessarily guarantees a sufficient income to lift a household out of poverty.
Data used
Households Below Average Income series, Department for Work and Pensions
Indicator last updated: 27 July 2010
Related news
Government will miss 2010 child poverty target
Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, published earlier in 2009, concluded that the government would miss its target of halving child poverty by 2010 unless it introduced new policies. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation expressed its disappointment that the 2009-10 Budget... More...
Related case studies
Other indicators in Children
- Child poverty
- Poverty in Inner and Outer London
- In-work poverty across England
- Children in households receiving out-of-work benefits
- Child ill health
- Infant deaths by borough
- Attainment at age 11 by borough
- Free school meals and attainment at age 11
- Households in temporary accommodation
- Underage conception by borough
- Children in workless households over time
- Children in workless households by type
- Attainment at age 11 by region
- Families receiving in-work benefits
Other indicators in Families
- In-work poverty across England
- Families receiving in-work benefits in London
- Children in workless households by type
- Families receiving in-work benefits
View all indicators
Glossary
Workless :
People who are not working but want a job and those people who are officially unemployed make up a group who can be described as 'lacking work but wanting work'. Anyone else of working-age who is not working is therefore 'lacking work but not wanting work'. The total workless population therefore includes those lacking and wanting work as well as those lacking but not wanting work.