Understanding poverty

Understanding poverty means understanding:

• how many people are affected and who is most at risk
• how poverty varies between places and groups
• what drives poverty
• how poverty changes over time
• what policies and actions reduce poverty.

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.