Record numbers living in ‘very deep poverty’ latest figures show

Joseph Rowntree Foundation says statistics are the worst for 30 years
A street

The UK has hit a record number of people living in “very deep poverty” according to new figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Their UK Poverty Report 2026 shows half of all those in poverty – or 6.8 million people – are unable to afford the cost of food, energy bills and clothing. For this group the cost of living crisis is ongoing, with many households falling behind on bill payments or having to use foodbanks or go into debt.

The latest figures are the highest since records began, the JRF says. 

They reveal:

  • More than one in five people in the UK, around 14.2 million, are living in poverty, defined as not being able to meet their minimum needs
  • 6.8 million people are now living in very deep poverty
  • The average person in poverty has an income 29 per cent below the threshold (60 per cent below the average national income after housing costs)
  • 4.5 million children are in poverty, rising for the third year in a row
  • An additional 1.1 million of those in poverty cannot afford enough food compared to two years ago
  • 2.8 million more people overall are now suffering food insecurity

Around 1.9 million people (3 per cent) in the UK are persistently in very deep poverty – where household incomes are 59 per cent below the poverty line.

And 3.8 million UK people have experienced destitution – the most extreme form of poverty where households cannot afford to stay warm, dry, clean, clothed or fed.

Although welcoming the recent scrapping of the two-child benefit limit, Peter Matejic, chief analyst at the JRF, said: “Poverty in the UK is still not just widespread, it is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years.

“When nearly half of the people in poverty are living far below the poverty line, that is a warning sign that the welfare system is failing to protect people from harm.”

The JRF data covers 2023-4, the final year the Conservatives were in power. No progress on poverty was made under Conservative governments since between 2010 and 2024. But current policies under Labour will also not meet the government’s manifesto commitment to end mass dependence on food banks, the JRF says.

The Grassroots Poverty Action Group, which directly informs JRF's work on poverty, said: “We are especially saddened and angered that almost half of people in poverty are experiencing the deepest forms of poverty.

“Poverty makes life feel very precarious. That prickling, uneasy feeling of uncertainty, and sometimes dread, dogs our physical and mental health. People can only take so much before they start breaking down.

“There are lives behind the numbers. We need urgent action to protect people’s futures.”

A government spokesperson said: “We understand that too many families are struggling, and we are taking decisive action to address poverty by boosting the national living wage by £900, cutting energy bills by £150 from April, and launching a £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund to help households stay afloat.

“As this report acknowledges, scrapping the two-child limit alongside our wider strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030 – the biggest reduction in a single parliament since records began.”