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12
1240/5(9711)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2016
Question
Will the Minister advise what degree of success she and her predecessors have had in achieving the "aim of reducing poverty", as outlined in Section 8 (Measuring Success') of Income Support System' (P.86/2005), using the measures which were proposed therein, namely:
- 50% of median income (before and after housing costs);
- 60% of median income (before and after housing costs);
- The Gini Coefficient; and
- 90/10 percentile?
Answer
The Deputy 's question refers to a report produced in 2005, well in advance of the introduction of Income Support in 2008. The four measures referred to at that time are standard measures used internationally to provide overall information about the income distribution within a particular jurisdiction.
These statistics require a detailed income distribution survey to be undertaken and results are publicly available in respect of the surveys undertaken in 2009/10 and 2014/15. These results reflect the behaviour of the economy as a whole and cannot be used on their own to determine the success of a benefit system.
These reports are available on the gov.je website:
Since 2011, an Annual Report has been published providing an extensive range of information on the Income Support system itself.
These reports are available on the States Assembly website:
2011 R.126/2012 2012 R.134/2013 2013 R.123/2014 2014 R.111/2015 2015 R.104/2016
The report for 2015 identified two key areas demonstrating the success of Income Support over the previous five-year period. An extract from the report is set out below:
"The previous five years have seen a significant decrease in the percentage of Income Support households that are wholly reliant the weekly benefit as their source of income.
Table 1 shows that this trend can be seen across all household types.
Adult/s without Adults with Single adult
Year 65+ Total
children child/ren with child/ren
2011 1% 34% 6% 20% 18% 2012 1% 34% 6% 17% 19%
| 2013 |
|
| 1% |
|
| 32% |
|
| 6% |
|
| 17% |
|
| 17% |
|
2014 |
|
| 1% |
|
| 29% |
|
| 4% |
|
| 17% |
|
| 15% | ||
| 2015 |
|
| 1% |
|
| 25% |
|
| 2% |
|
| 14% |
|
| 13% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
Table 1: Percentage of Income Support households wholly reliant on Income Support by year and household type as at 31 December, 2011 to 2015.
Over the previous five years from 2011 to 2015, the percentage of working age households with no adults with earned income has decreased steadily from 60% to 49%. In addition, the percentage of children in workless households has decreased at a similar rate, as shown in
% of Working Age % of All Children in Working
Year Households with No Earned Age Households with No Earned
Income Income
2011 60% 39% 2012 58% 35%
| 2013 |
|
| 55% |
|
| 35% |
|
2014 |
|
| 52% |
|
| 32% | ||
| 2015 |
|
| 49% |
|
| 28% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
Table 2: Percentage of children in households with no earned income as at 31 December, 2011 to 2015."