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31 July 2009

Poverty figures: the real numbers

Tory-Politico gets it wrong

By Mehdi Hasan

The right-wing blog Tory-Politico takes issue with a recent post of mine in which I pointed out:

“…I sit and gloomily digest the horrible prospect, in the midst of a recession, of Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne announcing savage and severe cuts in public spending, accompanied by cuts in inheritance tax for the richest members of society….It will, as always, be the poorest, weakest and most vulnerable members of our society who suffer most under a Conservative government.”

Tory-Politico (which says its aim is to “promote the Conservative Party”) cannot contain its rage:

“Clearly the post author didn’t bother to look at any facts before publishing.

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Figures released earlier in the year by the Department for Work and Pensions shows that Britain under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has become amore unequal country than at any time since modern records began in the early 1960s.

Since Tony Blair’s third election victory, the poorest 10% of households have seen weekly incomes fall by £9 a week to £147 once inflation is accounted for.

The data showed that the second poorest 10% of households has also had to make do with less since 2005. Overall, the poorest 20% saw real income fall by 2.6% in the three years to 2007-08, while those in the top fifth of the income distribution enjoyed a rise of 3.3%. As a result, income inequality at the end of Labour’s 11th year in power was higher than at any time during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.”

Actually, the facts are on my side. This particular blogger chooses to highlight only the poverty stats since 2005 (why?), while overlooking the inroads made by this government since 1997. I too am outraged, and depressed, at the rise inequality under Blair and Brown, but that is a separate issue from poverty and the poor, who are always better off under Labour. Here are the actual facts, over the entire period, from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP):

1. The latest figures on child, pensioner and working-age adult poverty can be found in Households Below Average Income (HBAI) 2007/08. HBAI figures can be downloaded from https://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai.asp along with a statistical press notice.

2. From 1998/9 – 2007/8 the number of children in relative poverty fell by 500,000, before housing costs are taken into account.

3. From 1998/9 – 2007/8 the number of children in absolute poverty fell by 1.7 million, before housing costs are taken into account.

4. From 1998/9 – 2007/8 the number of pensioners in relative poverty fell by 900,000, after housing costs are taken into account.

5. From 1998/9 – 2007/8 the number of pensioners in absolute poverty fell by 1.9 million, after housing costs are taken into account.

Fact: the government has failed on inequality but succeeded on poverty.

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