In-work poverty across England

Key points

  • Children in families where adults are working are much more likely to be in poverty in London than elsewhere.
  • Work does not guarantee a sufficient income to lift a household out of poverty in London.
  • The proportion of children in workless families who live in low income is high – more than 70% – everywhere.

The proportion of children in low-income households by family work status

charted data. Tabulated source data can be downloaded as a separate file.

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?

While the proportion of children in low-income households is higher in London than the rest of England, and highest of all in Inner London, the difference is most marked in working families. About 10% of children in 'all working' families in Inner and Outer London live in low-income households, compared to 5% in the rest of England.

There is a similar difference in 'part working' families with about 40% of children in Inner and Outer London in low-income households, compared to 30% in the rest of England.

For workless families, there is little difference in the proportion of children living in low income between London and elsewhere. The proportion of children in workless families who live in low income is high – more than 70% – everywhere.

Data used

Households Below Average Income series, Department for Work and Pensions. The data is the average for 2004/5 to 2006/7.

Indicator last updated: 18 May 2009

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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.

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