To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate has been made of the number of disabled children in (a) the UK and (b) England.

The estimated number of dependent children with a core disability in

(a) The UK: 800,000

(b) England: 700,000

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000.

Notes:

1. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of approximately 25,000 UK private households. Data for 2010-11, the latest year available, were collected between April 2010 and March 2011.

2. The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to Government office region population by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.

3. The Family Resources Survey defines a disabled person as having a long-standing illness, disability or impairment which causes substantial difficulty with day-to-day activities. Everyone classified as disabled under this definition would also be classified as disabled under the general definition of disability in the Equality Act (EA) which has applied since 1 October 2010. However, some individuals classified as disabled and having rights under the EA would not be captured by this definition.

4. A dependent child is defined as an individual aged under 16. A person will also be defined as a child if they are 16 to 19 years old and they are:

Not married nor in a civil partnership nor living with a partner; and

Living with parents; and

In full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training.

Source:

Family Resources Survey 2010-11