The number of people living in “very deep poverty” in the UK is at the highest level in more than 30 years, a charity has warned.
In its latest report, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said data up to the end of the 2023/24 financial year shows more than one in five people in the UK, around 14.2 million, are in poverty.
That figure is a slight drop from last year, but the charity said: “Scratch below the surface, there are signs of change: a definitive deepening of poverty.”
It noted that in 2023/24, 6.8 million people – almost half of all of those in poverty – were considered to be in “very deep poverty”.
The JRF said it is both the highest absolute number and the highest proportion of people in “very deep poverty” on record since it started tracking government data in 1994/95.
While the JRF notes “there is no single best measure of poverty”, criteria can include relative income poverty, which holds the line as being for those earning roughly 60% of the median household income.
Under this, deep poverty is defined as households earning below 50% of the median income, and very deep poverty as below 40%.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the median household income in the UK as of April 2024 is £36,700.
This would mean that poverty would see household income at around £22,070, while “very deep” poverty would be considered as below £14,680.
The report, called UK Poverty 2026, uses the latest data from up to the end of the 2023/24 financial year, just before Labour won that year’s general election.
Warning on child poverty after benefit cap removed
In it, the JRF also warned that progress on tackling child poverty from the government removing the two-child benefit cap will likely stall after April if no follow-up measures are announced.
While it praised the decision to remove the limit, calling it “the single most effective policy decision the government could have taken”, the charity has also warned that, according to Office for Budget Responsibility projections, the headline poverty rate “will remain broadly unchanged”, at 21.3% in 2026 and 21.1% in 2029.
It also said the Labour government’s child poverty strategy “is focused on just one part of the picture… this leaves many other groups with persistently high levels of poverty overlooked”.
JRF chief analyst Peter Matejic 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”.
“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,” he added.
“There can be no national renewal if deep poverty remains close to record levels.”
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A government spokesperson said: “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.”
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Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson Steve Darling also said the report was a “devastating indictment of the previous Conservative government’s neglect for the most vulnerable in our society”.
He added: “We need immediate action on the cost of living from this government to bring down energy bills, build more affordable homes, and end this misery once and for all.”
