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Experts hit back today at Boris Johnson's claim that child poverty has "substantially" dropped in the UK.

The Tory leader made the eyebrow-raising remark during Prime Minister's Questions as he clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over the state of the UK.

Mr Johnson said Labour should "change their tune" on austerity as he boasted: "There are 400,000 fewer people in poverty. There has been a reduction - a substantial reduction in child poverty."

But the government's figures shown child poverty has risen on almost every measure since the Tories took power in 2010.

Two think tanks - the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the anti-poverty group Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) - told the Mirror that by several measures, child poverty has risen.

Both think tanks acknowledged child poverty had fallen by one measure - but the IFS said it was "slight" and the JRF said it was "not statistically significant".

Child poverty is measured in several ways by the government - before and after housing costs; in numbers and percentages; and "absolute" versus "relative" poverty.

Experts told us it was best to measure the figure after housing costs.

On these rules, government figures show the number of children in relative poverty rose by 500,000 - from 3.6million in 2010/11 to 4.1million in 2017/18.

The percentage of children in relative poverty also rose from 27% to 30%.

The number of children in absolute poverty also rose slightly from 3.6million to 3.7million.

Finally, the percentage of children in absolute poverty did fall - but only by 0.8%, according to the IFS.

JRF head of research Peter Matejic said of this figure: "It's certainly not statistically significant - it's quite a small drop.

"It is a drop but I wouldn't describe is as substantial."

(Image: Getty Images)

IFS economist Jonathan Cribb added: "There has been low income growth for poor families with children since 2010, meaning the absolute child poverty rate has fallen slightly.

"But [it has fallen] much less it has in previous decades, when income growth has been higher.

"However, because average incomes have grown faster than those of poor families with children, relative child poverty has risen since 2010."

It came as Jeremy Corbyn raised fears over Universal Credit - including the "punitive" five week wait for first payment, the "cruel and callous" two-child limit and rules that claw back £225 of some Greggs workers' £300 bonus.

Mr Johnson insisted: “There are 400,000 fewer people in poverty.

“There has been a reduction - a substantial reduction in child poverty.

“He doesn’t like the answers.

“The reality is that there is a massive increase in employment. There is growth in this economy.

“And let me tell you Mr Speaker, I really think it is time the Labour Party changed their tune.”

Asked by the Mirror if the Prime Minister "misspoke", the Prime Minister's press secretary said: "Absolute poverty rates have fallen in every region since 2010 and unemployment has been cut by over 50%.

"There are now over 1million fewer workless households and the number of children living in a home where nobody works is at a record low.

"Income inequality is down since 2010 and lower than over the last 12 years of the last Labour government."

Pressed again on the fact there hadn't been a drop in child poverty on most measures, he said: "The Resolution Foundation research also shows the share of workers on low pay is at its lowest since 1980. There has been a consistent decrease in poverty in this country and we're proud of the record on that."

But the press secretary did not offer up a figure on child poverty.