Three in every ten children in the UK live in poverty as ‘scale of destitution’ rises fast

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) sets out the scale and nature of hardship across the UK in its final report before the next general election.  

It reveals that three in every ten children - 4.2million children - live in poverty, and the number of people in extreme poverty, or destitute, where they cannot afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed, is rising.  

Around four million people experienced destitution in 2022, including around one million children, and these figures have more than doubled since 2017, the report says. 

The deepening levels of hardship for millions of people across the country since the mid-1990s are described as ‘social failure at scale’.

Analysis of the latest official figures for 2021-22 shows that the average person in poverty has an income 29 per cent below the poverty line, with the gap up from 23 per cent in the mid-1990s.

The average income of people in very deep poverty – defined as being below 40 per cent of the median income after housing costs - is 59 per cent below the poverty line. 

For a couple with two children, both under 14, the poverty line is defined as £21,900, while income below £14,600 is defined as very deep poverty. 

In the run up to the next general election, the charity is calling on the political parties to ‘urgently address’ entrenched high levels of poverty by introducing an Essentials Guarantee into Universal Credit, to ensure that everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford essentials like food and household bills.  

'This is social failure at scale'.

Paul Kissack, group chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, says, ‘It has been almost 20 years and six Prime Ministers since the last prolonged period of falling poverty in the UK. Instead, over the last two decades, we have seen poverty deepen, with more and more families falling further and further below the poverty line. 

‘Little wonder that the visceral signs of hardship and destitution are all around us – from rocketing use of foodbanks to growing numbers of homeless families. This is social failure at scale. It is a story of both moral and fiscal irresponsibility – an affront to the dignity of those living in hardship, while driving up pressures on public services like the NHS.’ 

'Policy-makers need to sit up, take note and address these deep rooted problems'.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com and The Money & Mental Health Policy Institute Charity, said, ‘I warned at the start of the energy crisis that I was out of tools to help many on the lowest incomes.  Now we have hit the stark reality that 100,000s of people in the UK, even after they’ve had professional help from money charities, are still deficit budgeting – so their income is less than their minimum necessary expenditure.  

‘And let’s be plain, once people are in the deepest mire, it’s not a Money Saving Expert you need, its policy makers and regulators to sit up take note and address these deep rooted problems – which is exactly what I hope they do with this Joseph Rowntree Foundation report highlighting the situation and calling for change.’ 

A Government spokesperson said it was supporting families with the cost of living, while absolute poverty had fallen since 2010. Absolute poverty is a tougher measure than the headline figure used by the JRF, which is defined as living in a household with income below 60 per cent of the median in 2010-11, adjusted for inflation, it explained.

‘Children are five times less likely to experience poverty living in a household where all adults work, compared to those in workless households,' it said. 'That’s why we are investing billions breaking down barriers to work and supporting over one million low-income earners through our in-work progression offer – all while cutting taxes and curbing inflation so hard-working people have more money in their pocket.’