AQW 518/22-27
Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford
Tabled Date: 25/05/2022
Answered On Date: 09/06/2022
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities (i) how many children are assessed as living in poverty; and ii) how many of these children are eligible for free school meals.
Answer:
Official measures of absolute and relative poverty are derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). Both measures can be presented on a before and after housing costs basis. The number of children estimated to be living in poverty in 2019/20 are presented in the table below. Child Poverty Type | 2019/20 | Relative Poverty Before Housing Costs | 100,000 | Relative Poverty After Housing Costs | 103,000 | Absolute Poverty Before Housing Costs | 75,000 | Absolute Poverty After Housing Costs | 82,000 |
Data collection in 2020/21 was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions resulting in a heavily reduced sample size. This has led to additional uncertainty around the estimates, particularly for smaller groups. As such, for 2020/21, only figures relating to the whole population were published. Further information regarding the Family Resources Survey and related publications can be found at the link below. https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/topics/family-resources-survey It is not possible to determine how many of these children are eligible for free school meals. It should be noted that free school meals fall under the remit of the Department of Education (DE).
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