Report finds extreme poverty rate shooting upward in UK

A new study by a leading charity organization has found a notable rise in the UK's extreme poverty rate.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said in a report published on Tuesday that rising living costs and stagnant wages have contributed to the increase in severe poverty, plunging nearly seven million people in severe hardship, the highest level on record.

“Poverty in the UK is still not just widespread, it is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years,” said JRF’s chief analyst Peter Matejic. “When nearly half of the people in poverty are living far below the poverty line, that is a warning sign that the welfare system is failing to protect people from harm.”

However, the report noted, poverty rates varied across the UK, with London and the West Midlands among the hardest-hit areas.

According to the analysis by the charity organization, more than one in five people in the UK, with a population of 71.5 million, were living in poverty in 2023/24, the final year of the last Conservative government and the latest year for which official data is provided.

Of the impoverished people in the UK, 8.1 million are working-age adults, 4.3 million are children and 1.9 million are pensioners.

Of the 14.3 million impoverished people, nearly half are experiencing “very deep” hardship, the JRF's analysis said, noting that the present rate of extreme poverty in the UK is the highest in the past three decades.

Among those hit hardest by poverty are children, renters, disabled people, and those people in working positions that lack job security. And, about 3.8 million people, including around 1 million children, are in destitution, unable to afford basics such as heating, clothing, and food.

Biggest rise in ‘absolute poverty’ for 30 years seen in UK

The United Kingdom has seen the biggest rise in “absolute poverty” in 30 years.

In another report published on Wednesday, the Center for London warned that more than 700,000 children in the UK's capital city live in poverty.

"Child poverty in London remains unacceptably high. In every London borough except one, at least one in five children live in poverty after housing costs, and in some boroughs the rate approaches half of all children," said the London-based think tank.

In the report titled Tackling Child Poverty in London, it noted that London's Tower Hamlets borough has 47 percent of children living in poverty after housing costs, the highest in London, whereas the capital city's Richmond upon Thames borough has 15 percent, the lowest.

According to this report, "housing costs" are the main factor contributing to child poverty in British capital.

The report noted that London’s local and regional government, as well as voluntary and community sector organizations, were trying to resolve the "tough questions" on how to help the multitude of impoverished household struggling to make ends meet in the capital city as the cost of food, energy, and rent has surged in recent years, while the income for low-income households had barely increased, forcing many families to struggle on a daily bases to provide the basic essentials for living.

Under UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer the poorest UK households have become poorer, according to the latest data from independent research consultancy Retail Economics.

It said the Labour government's policies, which were meant to decrease poverty, have backfired till now.

The Center for London cited the government’s new strategy published last month, "Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty."

It said the new policy aims to tackle the issue, setting a 10-year mission to reduce child poverty across the UK.

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