Food bank worker sorting a bread delivery.

Deep poverty and destitution

Insight into severe hardship and policies to tackle it, including destitution, deep poverty and going without the essentials.

Our mission

Everyone in our country should be able to at least afford life’s essentials, such as enough food and household bills. Having these essentials provides a foundation for people to live with dignity and build a better life.

JRF recognises that addressing hardship is essential to economic security, and is:

collaborating with The Trussell Trust on the Essentials Guarantee campaign which calls on UK political party leaders to support an Essentials Guarantee within Universal Credit to ensure, at a minimum, it always enables people to afford life’s essentials
developing other national policy recommendations to design out hardship
looking at what can be done locally (for example, building community power and emergency crisis support) to protect people from hardship and help them thrive.

Growing hardship

Not enough food. Can’t heat the house. No bed. Can’t pay the rent. Can’t afford the bus fare to go into town. Can’t afford to have a friend over for tea. Living in fear of the washing machine or fridge breaking down. Unable to sleep because of the stress and worry. These experiences have become all too common in our country, as poverty has deepened.

Experiencing such hardship impacts people’s physical health, mental health and social connections. It also makes it harder for children to learn and thrive. These consequences increase the cost and demand on our public services and prevent people from realising their potential.

Destitution

3.8 million people (1 million of them children) experienced destitution, the most severe form of hardship, at some point in 2022. This means people are unable to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed.

The cost of living crisis has highlighted these experiences, but they are not new. Poverty has been deepening for more than a decade and, shamefully, the number of people experiencing destitution has more than doubled between 2017 and 2022.

Read our Destitution in the UK 2023 report

Turning the tide on deepening poverty

JRF believes that in the UK, we should all be protected from hardship. To ensure this protection, everybody needs:

a financial safety net that at least covers life’s essentials, so everyone can afford them without having to rely on charity
a place to call home with affordable rent that provides stability for people to build a life for themselves and their family
a social safety net that provides somewhere and someone to turn to in times of need and financial crisis
protection that is available to all (it shouldn’t matter who you are or where you come from, everyone should be protected from hardship)
an economy that offers secure and well-paid jobs as well as a housing market that provides enough affordable housing.

Neighbourhoods and communities

Turning the tide on deepening poverty will require national policy change, such as reform to Universal Credit. But even with these changes, neighbourhoods and local areas still have a vital role to play. It is here that people can find social connection, purpose, and the right help at the right time. Everyone should have someone and somewhere to turn to when they fall on hard times, to help them through a crisis and get back on their feet. This is what we refer to as the ‘social safety net’.

Following on from our work with New Local, we’ve commissioned a series of articles, from leading thinkers, about designing out hardship in neighbourhoods. The series includes reflections, ideas and practical examples of how to tackle hardship in neighbourhoods, and the national policy changes needed to enable this work.

Explore the series

Discover more about deep poverty and destitution

Destitution in the UK 2023

This study, the fourth in the Destitution in the UK series, reveals approximately 3.8 million people experienced destitution in 2022, including around one million children. This is almost two-and-a-half times the number of people in 2017, and nearly triple the number of children. There is an urgent need for action to tackle destitution in the UK.

Report

Deep poverty and destitution

Child poverty

Housing

Designing out hardship and destitution

Not enough food. Can’t heat your home. No bed. Can’t pay the rent. Can’t afford bus fare into town. Can’t afford a friend over for tea. Living in fear of your washing machine or fridge breaking down. Can't sleep because your mind is on fire with stress and worry. These experiences have become all too common in our country.

Briefing

Deep poverty and destitution

Social security

Work

Housing

A pair of hands assembling two jigsaw pieces which feature an image of a city.

Designing out the most severe forms of hardship in local areas

This report asks what it would look like for a local area to do everything it can to ‘design out’ the most severe forms of hardship, to ensure no one ever experiences them.

Report

Deep poverty and destitution

Neighbourhoods and communities

Father and child sat together reading and smiling.

What protects people from very deep poverty, and what makes it more likely?

These briefings look at the effect of work, housing, and the importance of social and financial safety nets, on the dynamics of very deep poverty. What must be done to make sure we can all afford life’s essentials when our circumstances change?

Briefing

Deep poverty and destitution

Child poverty

Work

Father and daughter sat together smiling.

Ethnicity and the heightened risk of very deep poverty

Like poverty in general, very deep poverty is higher for people in households headed by someone of black, Asian and minority ethnicity. In this blog, Peter and Rachelle look at important differences in both the levels and trends of very deep poverty, and the impact of the cost of living crisis for different ethnic groups.

Story

Deep poverty and destitution

Race and ethnicity

Close up hands of walking couple, women in wheelchair

From disability to destitution

The official story on poverty among disabled people is bad enough. But new JRF analysis reveals that when it comes to the real essentials of life, like heating and food, the problem is far worse than acknowledged in Whitehall.

Story

Deep poverty and destitution

Guarantee our Essentials: reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times

Losing your job, needing to care for a sick family member, breaking up with your partner – everyone’s circumstances can change. When they do, the social security system should ensure no one goes without the essentials - but it doesn't.

Report

Social security