Child Poverty

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:35 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:35, 25 October 2022

Llywydd, the figures show no such thing. What the figures demonstrate is the impact of cuts to benefits by the UK Government. And if you live in a part of the country where more families depend upon benefits, then the cuts to those benefits, of course, have a greater effect. Let me tell him what the latest research is saying to us about the actions of his Government. The Resolution Foundation finds that if benefits are not raised in line with inflation, then a further 300,000 children across the United Kingdom will find themselves in absolute poverty. I think this is probably the fourth week in a row in which I've invited the Welsh Conservatives to say that they believe that benefits should be uprated—[Interruption.] Well, if you said it last week, then I'm very glad—[Interruption.] If you said it last week, I'm very glad indeed to acknowledge it, because I think the more that we can speak together on that matter, the more influence that we will have. And given that, as a party, you have a direct ability to influence a Conservative Government at Westminster to know that you too believe that benefits should be uprated in line with inflation, that would be good news for those poor families in Wales. Even if benefits are uprated in line with inflation, then the Resolution Foundation says that child poverty across the United Kingdom will rise to 34 per cent—the highest for over 20 years. And for people reliant on basic out-of-work support, the real value of that support will be lower than it was at the time when Mrs Thatcher was Prime Minister. That's why you see the figures that you quote—because of the impact of the last 12 years on the incomes of the very poorest families across Wales and the United Kingdom.