More people than ever before in the UK are living in 'very deep poverty', with their annual household incomes failing to cover basic essentials such as food, energy and clothing, according to an analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The charity found that 6.8 million people – half of all those in poverty – now fall into this category, the highest number and proportion since records began three decades ago.
Very deep poverty is defined as having an income below 40% of the UK poverty threshold after housing costs. For a couple with two young children, this means living on £16,400 or less per year. The average income of a household in very deep poverty is 59% below the poverty line, and 1.9 million people are persistently in this situation.
The JRF analysis, based on data from 2023-24, also reveals that 3.8 million people experienced destitution, an even more extreme category where households cannot afford to stay warm, dry, clean, clothed or fed. Peter Matejic, the JRF's chief analyst, said: 'Poverty in the UK is still not just widespread, it is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years.'
The charity noted that no progress was made in reducing poverty under the Conservative government between 2010-11 and 2023-24. It welcomed Labour's recent child poverty strategy, including scrapping the two-child benefit limit, which it said would lead to the biggest fall in child poverty over a parliament since records began in the 1960s. However, it warned of a 'seeming lack of urgency' in tackling hardship beyond child poverty.
A government spokesperson responded: 'We understand that too many families are struggling, and we are taking decisive action to address poverty by boosting the national living wage by £900, cutting energy bills by £150 from April, and launching a £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund to help households stay afloat. As this report acknowledges, scrapping the two-child limit alongside our wider strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030 – the biggest reduction in a single parliament since records began.'
