Press-releasing poverty at the DWP

Alistair Geddes and Jonathan Mendel: Poverty statistics matter. The DWP need to improve how they communicate uncertainty.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith answers Select Committee questions on the annual report and accounts of his department. Photograph: PA

This post will look at bad handling of poverty statistics in a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) press release – which the UK Statistics Authority said didn’t deal as well as it should have done with uncertainty. These poverty statistics – and how they’re publicised – matter. The global economic crisis has left many in the UK poorer while the UK government is introducing policies affecting people living in and near poverty. In this context, it is especially important to have a clear picture of how society is changing, to understand how changes impact on poverty in the UK, and to consider appropriate responses to poverty and policy.

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