21 January 2010 – Publication of DWP research report: Parents’ Work Entry, Progression and Retention and Child Poverty
Research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions explores the impact of both work entry and exit as well as progression and retention on the poverty status of families with children. It was undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and was based on analysis of data from the Department’s Families and Children Study collected in 2001-2006.
The main findings were:
- Moving into work is an important factor in lifting families out of poverty: 73% of fathers1, 63% of mothers in couples and 60% of lone mothers exit poverty upon work entry (65% among all parents combined).
- Those absent from work for longer are less likely to exit poverty when they enter work.
- 32% of parents enter poverty when they leave work but 7% of lone mothers exit poverty when they leave work.
- The proportion of lone mothers in work for three years, and who are in poverty, declines substantially from 37% in the month of work entry to 18% at the end of three years.
- 59% of lone mothers experience poverty at some point over the three years in work. But although the proportion always in poverty is considerably higher for lone mothers (23%) than mothers in couples in the first year, this proportion is much smaller and closer to that for mothers in couples after three years (5%),
1 Includes both fathers in couples and the very small number of lone fathers in the survey
- The proportion of mothers in couples in work for three years and in poverty gradually declines from 11% to a low of 7 % at around twenty months but it then rises to reach 9% by 36 months after work entry. But only 3% of this group remain in poverty throughout the three years.
- The pattern for fathers is similar, with a downward trend from 22% in poverty in the month of work entry for the first two years followed by a rise in the third year, with 16 % of fathers in poverty at the end of three years.
- For both groups the small upturn in poverty is driven by those in part-time work or mini-jobs
- There was no evidence that training raises the probability of poverty exit during the first three years following work entry, there is some evidence to suggest that job-related training may help guard against poverty entry in the longer term.
Background to the research
Parents’ work entry, progression and retention and child poverty by James Browne and Gillian Paull. DWP Research Report Series No. 626 will be published on January 21st 2010. A summary and copy of the report is available on the DWP website: http//www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/.
The Families and Children Study is a longitudinal study that surveys the same families each year asking about a range of topics including employment, income, health and childcare. It started in 1999 and the final wave of data collection was in 2008.
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