Report Highlights Increased Difficulty in Escaping Poverty Over the Past Two Decades

The struggle to escape poverty has intensified in Britain over the last 20 years, with little improvement since the Conservative Party came into power in 2010, according to a recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

The foundation's 2024 UK poverty report reveals that six million of the nation's poorest would need to more than double their income to escape severe hardship. The average income of a person in poverty is now 29% less than the poverty threshold, which is an increase from a 23% deficit in the mid-1990s.

A couple with two young children is considered to be living in extreme poverty if their income is under £14,600. Since the mid-1990s, the number of people in this dire situation has risen from 4.5 million to 6 million.

The report, highly regarded for its insights into British poverty, shows that 22% of the UK population, or 14.4 million people—including 4.2 million children and 2.1 million pensioners—were living in poverty during the 2021-22 period.

This is a return to near pre-pandemic levels, exacerbated by soaring energy bills and the cost of basic goods.

The JRF states that while poverty initially decreased under Tony Blair's Labour government, it has since settled at persistently high rates, barely fluctuating from the 20-22% range since 2010.

JRF's CEO has decried this as a social and moral failure with serious repercussions on public services. A government representative responded by highlighting their efforts towards helping families with the cost of living and noted that "absolute poverty"—a stricter measure than the JRF's—has reportedly decreased since 2010.

They emphasised initiatives aimed at reducing unemployment as a means to combat poverty.