Cost of living and poverty

In October 2025, a persistently high 69% of households on low incomes — around 4.1 million households — reported going without at least one essential. Our definition includes going without essentials such as adequate heating, clothing or furniture in the last 6 months, or not having enough money for food in the last 30 days.

Food insecurity remains the most widespread form of hardship. Half of low-income households (51%) reported cutting back on or skipping meals, while 4 in 10 (40%) said they had gone hungry in the last 30 days because they could not afford enough food. A quarter of households were unable to afford to keep their home warm in the last 6 months, and around 1 in 5 reported being unable to afford essential dental treatment or to replace or repair major electrical items.

There has been some improvement since the peak of the cost-of-living crisis captured in October 2022, when 75% of low-income households were going without essentials. This easing likely reflects a combination of falling inflation, earnings growth, benefit uprating and the temporary unfreezing of Local Housing Allowance (since re-frozen at April 2024 levels). However, progress has stalled, and hardship remains widespread.

While the proportion of low-income households going without essentials has fallen slightly since 2022, it has remained broadly unchanged over the last few survey waves, standing at around 69% in October 2025. The modest improvement has been driven largely by reductions in food insecurity, yet more than half of low-income households (55%) continue to experience it.