Research and analysis to help understand poverty in the UK — its scale, who is affected, how it varies across the country, and how it is changing over time.
Understanding poverty means understanding:
Poverty is not inevitable but remains widespread and deeply damaging across the UK. More than 1 in 5 people (14.2 million people) were living in poverty in 2023/24. Poverty is not only about income. It affects people's ability to afford essentials, participate in society and live with dignity.
We track poverty across the UK and over time, examining the factors that drive it and the policies that can reduce it — so that we can challenge harmful narratives, keep poverty in the public eye and hold governments to account.
UK Poverty is our flagship annual report and an essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK. It brings together the latest evidence to help governments, organisations and the public understand what is happening, who is affected and what needs to change.
The UK poverty statistics dashboard brings this data together for up-to-date quick reference information on poverty rates.
What defines poverty and how can we measure it? Here we explain the various factors involved.
How can the structures and systems causing inequality be redesigned to create a fairer and more equal society?
