Tag: hardship

Millions would need to DOUBLE their income just to escape poverty

Hardship deepens as millions find the poverty line further out of reach

New analysis in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) flagship UK Poverty report quantifies for the first time how many thousands of pounds are needed by families to escape poverty – and how that has got worse over time. It is now 20 years and 6 prime ministers since there was a sustained fall in poverty.

New analysis in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) flagship UK Poverty report quantifies for the first time how many thousands of pounds are needed by families to escape poverty – and how that has got worse over time. It is now 20 years and 6 prime ministers since there was a sustained fall in poverty.

How much you would need to move out of poverty

The poverty gap, or the amount of money needed to bring the incomes of people in poverty to the poverty line, has grown wider.  Six million of the poorest people – those living in very deep poverty – would need on average to more than double their income to move out of poverty.

Analysis of the latest data shows that the average person in poverty has an income 29% below the poverty line, with the gap up from 23% in the mid-1990s. The average income of people in very deep poverty – is 59% below the poverty line.

This is equivalent to a couple with two children under 14:

  • in poverty needing an additional £6,200 per year to reach the poverty line.  In the mid 90’s, the gap was £3,300 after adjusting for inflation.
  • in very deep poverty needing a whopping £12,800 more to reach the poverty line.

Poverty increased in the latest official data, returning close to pre-pandemic levels

  • Over one in five people in the UK (22%) were in poverty in 2021/22
  • This equates to 14.4 million people in total, with 8.1 million working-age adults, 4.2 million children and 2.1 million pensioners living in poverty
  • Nearly two-thirds (64%) of working-age adults in poverty live in working households. This has increased by 3 percentage points, from 61% to 64%, between 2020/21 and 2021/22
  • The number and proportion of children and pensioners in poverty rose between 2020/21 and 2021/22, as well as overall poverty
  • Around two in every ten adults are in poverty in the UK, with about three in every ten children being in poverty
  • Around 6 million people lived in very deep poverty in 2021/22

JRF analysis of broader trends since the 1970s shows that poverty rates grew rapidly under the Thatcher Government, reaching around a quarter in the mid to late 1990s, and have remained stubbornly high since then.

Poverty fell during the first half of the New Labour administration but started to rise after 2005. Overall, poverty has barely moved since Conservative-led Governments took power in 2010, with every year’s poverty rate since then being between 20% and 22%.

At the same time, the British public is more conscious of rising poverty levels in society. Since 2017, the majority agree that the government should increase tax and spending on health, education and other social benefits.

As we approach a general election, political parties must urgently address entrenched high levels of poverty by:

  • Introducing an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ into Universal Credit, to ensure that everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford essentials like food and household bills.
  • Beyond this, future governments must focus on expanding the foundations of economic security to everyone in our society. People experiencing poverty, especially deep poverty, will be looking for plans from parties to ensure that they are not left unprotected when times are hard.

Paul Kissack, Group Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, says:
 “It has been almost twenty years and six Prime Ministers since the last prolonged period of falling poverty in the UK. Instead, over the last two decades, we have seen poverty deepen, with more and more families falling further and further below the poverty line.

“Little wonder that the visceral signs of hardship and destitution are all around us – from rocketing use of foodbanks to growing numbers of homeless families. This is social failure at scale. It is a story of both moral and fiscal irresponsibility – an affront to the dignity of those living in hardship, while driving up pressures on public services like the NHS.

“It’s a story which can – and must – change.  Governments are not powerless to act, as we have seen throughout our history. One way politicians can take action in the next parliament is to enshrine in law a guarantee that people will always be able to afford the essentials, such as food and household bills, through our benefits system.

“2024 will be a year of choices, and any political party wishing to form a new Government must set out a practical and ambitious plan to turn back the tide on poverty in the UK. That plan – to ensure the dignity and respect of every member of our society – will be essential for achieving any broader ambitions for the country”.

Martin Lewis, Founder of MoneySavingExpert.com & The Money & Mental Health Policy Institute Charity said: “I warned at the start of the energy crisis that I was out of tools to help many on the lowest incomes.  “

“Now we have hit the stark reality that 100,000s of people in the UK, even after they’ve had professional help from money charities, are still deficit budgeting – so their income is less than their minimum necessary expenditure.

“Definitions of poverty are tricky, especially when based on relative incomes, but that smells like a clear indication the problem is getting worse.

“And let’s be plain, once people are in the deepest mire, it’s not a Money Saving Expert you need, its policy makers and regulators to sit up take note and address these deep rooted problems – which is exactly what I hope they do with this Joseph Rowntree Foundation report highlighting the situation and calling for change.”

Number of people in poverty and poverty rates for different groups, UK, 2021/22

GroupNumber in povertyPoverty rate (%)
People14,400,00022%
Children4,200,00029%
Working-age adults8,100,00020%
Pensioners2,100,00018%
Single pensioners1,100,00025%
Couple pensioners1,000,00014%
Single working-age adults, no children3,000,00024%
Working-age adults in a couple, no children1,900,00013%
Working-age lone parents800,00042%
Working-age parents in couple families2,400,00021%
Children in lone-parent families1,500,00044%
Children in couple families2,700,00025%

IMAGES: Miners Strike 1984

Biggest ever overnight cut to social security “makes a mockery of levelling up”

This morning, around 5.5 million families across the United Kingdom are waking up £1,040-a-year worse off due to the Prime Minister imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security.

Despite fierce opposition from across the political spectrum, his government has pressed ahead with this controversial cut which will cause immense, immediate and avoidable hardship.

As the cut comes into effect today, the Prime Minister must face the five most serious consequences of his cut:

  1. Half a million more people pulled into poverty, including 200,000 children.
  2. Makes social security wholly inadequate by reducing the main rate of out-of-work support to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
  3. Around 20% of all working-age families across the UK have lost £1,040 a year. 6 in 10 single parent families will be affected by this cut.
  4. 1.7 million people who will experience this cut to Universal Credit are unable to work – due to caring for others, disability, or illness – a promise of higher wages will do nothing to help them.
  5. The cut takes £6 billion of spending power out of local economies. The cut has the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed.

Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Today the Prime Minister has imposed the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. It makes a mockery of his mission to level up.

“Despite overwhelming opposition, he is ploughing ahead with a cut which fundamentally undermines the adequacy of our vital social security system as we face a cost-of-living crisis. This is not building back better, it’s repeating the same mistakes made after the last financial crisis.

“The Government says a key test of levelling up is improving living standards, yet they have just made around 5.5 million low-income families £1,040 a year worse off. People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from today, in fact they are going up.  Ministers’ arguments in recent days beg the question: has the party that created Universal Credit forgotten the purpose of the system?

“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. Low-income families urgently need him to reinstate this vital lifeline.”

Participants in the Covid Realities project responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on the eve of the cut:

“My husband has been in his job for 25 years +, he hasn’t received a pay rise in 5 years and has recently been told there’s no way he will get one anytime soon.

So I’m sorry but there’s no fix there for us. Once again the only option is to struggle and I’m tired of it.” – Emma, England, Covid Realities

“He has no idea how tough it is and how hard people are working to make ends meet!

It is sickness inducing that he completely misses the point that families will either be cold or hungry due to this cut.” – Kim, Wales, Covid Realities

“Fuel and food is on the increase and … families on a low income cannot afford to absorb these costs.

“It is short-sighted to not think of the long term costs involved when already impoverished working families cannot sustain themselves.” – Aurora, England, Covid Realities

“So our prime minister has said he knows it is tough for people on low incomes, does he honestly? … How as parents can we support our children when we are going without food, hungry and unable to concentrate and even sleep at night with worry and stress, do you really understand?

 … I would invite any MP to come and actually experience the day to day drain of living on low income and the impact that has on our mental and physical wellbeing.” – Caroline, Northern Ireland, Covid Realities 

Political consequences:

  • 413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned £1,040-a-year cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
    • Of these 413 constituencies, 191 are Conservative – 53 of which were newly won at the last general election or in a subsequent by-election.
  • In 35 local authorities across Great Britain, 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.

“THE NASTY PARTY IS WELL AND TRULY BACK”

Edinburgh Pentlands SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has condemned the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit, which comes into force today. The First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister of Northern Ireland have also condemned the measure.

The previous week, the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelming to support cancelling the Tory UK Government’s planned £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.

Gordon MacDonald also raised the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison seeking information on what representations the Scottish Government has made to the UK Government.

Ms Robison confirmed that the Scottish Government had written to the UK Government on eight separate occasions since March 2020 to ask it to retain the much-needed £20 uplift. In addition on 30 August, Ms Robison joined colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland to write to the UK Government to urge it to retain the uplift. They are yet to receive a response.

SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald for Edinburgh Pentlands said: “The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly spoke and demanded the Tory UK Government halts their plans to scrap the uplift to Universal Credit.

“Sadly, we also witnessed every single Tory MSP failing to stand up to their Westminster bosses in opposing the £20 a week cut – the biggest welfare cut since the 1930s at the worst possible time.  Even former Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson and six former Tory DWP Secretary of States, opposed the cut.

“I am standing up for the 32,022 households impacted across Edinburgh, but the Tory Government at Westminster has now implemented their plans that will rip more than £1,000 a year out of the hands of the most vulnerable at a time when they need it most.

“I am quite frankly shocked, but not surprised, that the Scottish Tory MSPs not only voted to back the Universal Credit cut which will condemn thousands of families to poverty, but actively defended it – the Nasty Party is well and truly back.

“History will remember them for this – Scottish Tory MSPs are letting down thousands of families and children with this callous cut in favour of propping up their Tory chums in the UK Government who are imposing these policies on the people of Scotland.

“This demonstrates once again how the people of Scotland cannot afford to continue to suffer under Westminster control. We need to have the option of choosing a different path in a referendum which can give us the full powers of independence where we can build a fairer Scotland.”