UK poverty statistics

Overall poverty rates, depth and duration of poverty

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Overall poverty rates for children, working-age adults and pensioners

Our latest data charts show clear differences in poverty rates across age groups, with children and people in lone-parent families at highest risk.

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Depth and duration of poverty

Our latest data charts show longer and deeper experiences of poverty lead to more severe hardship, with rising numbers of people now in very deep poverty.

Family composition, age and sex

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Family composition, age and sex

Our latest data charts show poverty risks vary by family type, age and sex, with children, lone-parent families and younger adults facing the highest rates of poverty.

Ethnicity and migrant families

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Ethnicity

Our latest data charts show poverty rates differ sharply by ethnicity, with many minoritised ethnic groups far more likely to experience poverty and very deep poverty.

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Migrant families

Our latest data charts show children in migrant families face much higher poverty rates than other children, even when their parents are in work.

Geography

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Geography

Our latest data charts show poverty rates vary widely across the UK, reflecting local differences in labour markets, housing costs and access to services.

Disability and carers

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Disability

Our latest data charts show disabled people are far more likely to live in poverty, driven by extra costs, barriers to work and inadequate income support.

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Carers

Our latest data charts show carers are more likely to live in poverty, as balancing paid work with caring responsibilities often brings lower incomes and extra costs.

Work and social security

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Work

Our latest data charts show work does not guarantee protection from poverty, as low pay, insecure jobs and limited hours leave many workers struggling to make ends meet.

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Social security

Our latest data charts show people receiving social security face much higher poverty rates, reflecting inadequate benefit levels that fail to meet the cost of essentials.

Housing

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Housing

Our latest data charts show poverty rates are highest among renters, with high housing costs pulling many private renters into poverty and low incomes driving poverty among social renters.

Cost of living, and savings and debt

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Cost of living

Our latest data charts show low-income families continue to face severe hardship, often going without essentials such as food and heating, with lasting impacts on health and wellbeing.

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Savings and debt

Our latest charts show low-income households are far more likely to hold little or no savings and face heavy debt burdens, increasing financial insecurity and hardship.

Food insecurity and health

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Food insecurity

Our latest data charts show people in poverty struggle to afford enough food, particularly nutritious options needed for healthy diets. Children and lone-parent families are most affected.

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Health

Our latest data charts show working age adults in poverty are more likely to report poor health which gets worse with age and low-incomes are linked with higher rates of anxiety.

Education

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Education

Our latest data shows substantial gaps in educational attainment still exist for children growing up in poverty, limiting opportunities later in life.

Definition of poverty

Unless otherwise stated, we use the relative poverty rate after housing costs (AHC) to measure poverty. This means a household is in relative poverty if its income is below 60% of the UK median, after housing costs.