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10 July 2006 : Column 1606W—continued

Proportions of working-age adults living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, for England and the English regions 1996-97—1998-99 to 2002-03—2004-05, after housing costs
	Proportion of working-age adults( 1) as three-year moving averages
	1996-97/1998-99	1997-98/1998-99	1998-99/2000-01	1999-2000/2001-02	2000-01/2002-03	2001-02/2003-04	2002-03/2004-05
England	20	19	19	19	19	19	19
North East	25	26	25	23	22	21	21
North West and Merseyside	22	21	21	21	20	19	19
Yorkshire and Humberside	21	22	21	21	20	20	19
East Midlands	18	18	18	18	19	19	19
West Midlands	18	18	19	19	20	20	20
Eastern	16	15	14	14	14	15	15
London	24	24	23	23	23	23	24
South East	15	15	15	15	14	15	15
South West	19	19	19	19	18	18	17
(1) Figures are provided using a three-year moving averages, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year on year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. Source: Family Resources Survey

The following tables show the proportions of children living in households with income below the threshold 60 per cent. of contemporary median in England and the English regions since 1996-97. These are shown before and after housing costs. The threshold of 60 per cent. of median household income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.

10 July 2006 : Column 1607W

10 July 2006 : Column 1608W

Proportions of children living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, for England and the English regions 1996-97—1998-99 to 2002-03—2004-05, before housing costs
	Proportion of children( 1) as three-year moving averages
	1996-97/1998-99	1997-98/1998-99	1998-99/2000-01	1999-2000/2001-02	2000-01/2002-03	2001-02/2003-04	2002-03/2004-05
England	24	24	22	21	20	20	20
North East	31	32	32	27	29	27	28
North West and Merseyside	30	30	28	25	23	23	22
Yorkshire and Humberside	30	30	28	26	25	24	24
East Midlands	23	23	23	23	24	22	21
West Midlands	27	26	25	26	24	24	24
Eastern	18	18	16	15	13	14	14
London	25	24	24	23	23	23	24
South East	16	15	14	14	13	13	12
South West	22	21	19	17	17	17	16

Proportions of children living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income, for England and the English regions 1996-97—1998-99 to 2002-03—2004-05, after housing costs
	Proportion of children( 1) as three-year moving averages
	1996-97/1998-99	1997-98/1998-99	1998-99/2000-01	1999-2000/2001-02	2000-01/2002-03	2001-02/2003-04	2002-03/2004-05
England	33	32	32	31	29	29	28
North East	38	38	38	34	34	32	32
North West and Merseyside	37	37	35	33	32	30	29
Yorkshire and Humberside	35	35	33	32	30	30	29
East Midlands	29	29	29	28	29	27	26
West Midlands	33	32	33	33	32	31	30
Eastern	27	26	25	24	23	22	22
London	41	41	40	39	38	38	39
South East	25	24	23	23	22	21	21
South West	31	31	29	28	27	27	25
(1) Figures are provided using a three-year moving averages, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year on year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. Source: Family Resources Survey

Redundancies

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the staff made redundant by his Department and the agencies for which it is responsible since 6 April 2004 had been recruited by the Department or its predecessor Department and their respective agencies since 1 May 1997. [82496]

Mrs. McGuire: As part of its Efficiency Programme, the Department has run a number of staff early release schemes since April 2004. All but one early release under these schemes has been on a voluntary basis. As at the end of March 2006 a total of 335 staff (full-time equivalent) who left the Department under these schemes had been recruited since 1 May 1997.

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