The statistics I've read out, no, because they relate to the pattern over 20 years and longer, rather than a short period of recent time.

After almost two decades of Labour Welsh Government, Wales has been left trailing behind—14 per cent of children in Wales living in a workless household compared to 11 per cent for the UK. Wales has the lowest employment rate and highest economic inactivity rate in Britain, and the highest unemployment rate in the UK nations. The Bevan Foundation's March 2018 employment briefing reports that although having job security enables workers to plan their daily lives and have a secure income, the proportion in non-permanent employment, including zero hours, is higher in Wales than in Britain and has stayed relatively high, whereas the proportion has declined in Britain. In January, the Office for National Statistics reported that income inequality has fallen over the last decade and households have more disposable income than at any time previously—I will take credit for that—with the incomes of the poorest households up nearly £2,000 compared to pre-downturn levels. That's the ONS, not a politician.

However, although UK real wages are now rising faster than prices, Welsh workers now have the lowest weekly wages out of all the UK nations, with gross weekly earnings £46 behind the UK level. Twenty years ago, Welsh and Scottish workers had identical weekly pay packets, but 20 years later, a Scottish weekly pay packet contains £43 more than a Welsh pay packet.

I therefore move amendment 1, which proposes

'that the National Assembly for Wales:

'1. Notes that child poverty levels in Wales stand above the UK level with rates rising before the last recession.

'2. Notes research for Save the Children Cymru which found that: "By age five around a third of children living in poverty (30-35 per cent) were already falling behind across a range of cognitive outcomes".

'3. Recognises that although UK Government policy in reserved areas also applies in Wales, the Welsh Government has responsibility for promoting prosperity and tackling poverty programmes, including Communities First, in Wales since 1999.

'4. Notes the importance of access to high-quality early childhood education and care for children in Wales and the need for targeted support for children living in poverty.

'5. Further calls on the Welsh Government to take all steps within its powers to tackle child poverty as part of a new plan for eliminating child poverty that includes SMART targets rather than vague statements.'

We agree with Plaid Cymru very much in that respect. The Welsh Government ended its Communities First Programme after spending nearly £0.5 billion on it. As the Bevan Foundation stated,

'Communities First did not reduce the headline rates of poverty in the vast majority of communities, still less in Wales as a whole.'

They added that a new programme

'should be co-produced by communities and professionals and not be directed top-down', that it should be based on a

'clear theory of change that builds on people’s and community’s assets not their deficits' and that 

'local action should be led by established, community-based organisations which have a strong track-record of delivery and which have significant community engagement.'

They also stated that if people feel that policies are imposed on them, the policies don’t work.