The New Policy Institute has updated and extended its fifty indicators of poverty and social exclusion first published last year. The number of individuals experiencing low income in at least two years out of every three has remained unchanged. More than 2 million children still live in households where there is no adult in paid work. There have been improvements in work-related indicators, with the numbers wanting paid work continuing to fall and job insecurity appearing to level off.
Health inequalities continue to worsen.
I. It is too early to estimate the impact of policy changes introduced in 1999, such as the national minimum wage and the Working Families Tax Credit. Tackling poverty may therefore be more about how to target taxes and benefits with minimum stigma or disincentives than about the overall cost. The nature of social exclusion defined in this analysis suggests that tackling it will need to involve the commitment of individuals and organisations in the private sector as well as changes in public expenditure and services. Gap between low and median income 2. Children in workless households 9.