The Government's latest figures on the distribution of income and the extent of relative poverty in Britain will be released by the Department for Work and Pensions on Thursday 9th March. These figures will also tell us whether the Government met its target for child poverty to have fallen by a quarter since 1998/9. The IFS will be releasing a detailed analysis of the latest figures and recent trends, which will be presented on Monday 13th March.

This research will assess:

• How average incomes in Britain have continued to change;
• What has been happening to the gap between rich and poor;
• Whether the Government met its target for child poverty to have fallen by a quarter since 1998/9 by 2004/5, and what were the main contributory factors;
• The latest trends in pensioner poverty;
• What has happened to poverty amongst groups less favoured by Government tax and benefit policies.

This report will be launched on Monday 13th March 2005, at the IFS offices in Ridgmount Street, London. The briefing will start at 10am and is expected to conclude by 11.30pm.

Places at this briefing are free of charge and will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. If you would like to attend, please email Bonnie Brimstone.