The findings also highlighted large numbers of children living on low incomes for prolonged periods running up to the pandemic.
The charity’s flagship state-of-the-nation report, published at the same time, also revealed a ‘worrying’ increase in the number of children growing up in ‘very deep’ poverty.
WHAT IS THE PICTURE OF POVERTY AT THE START OF 2022, TWO YEARS INTO THE COVID PANDEMIC?
To an extent the picture is unclear: we don’t yet have official poverty data covering the pandemic period, and we know that the quality of the surveys we rely on for this information was affected by the onset of the pandemic. But many sources make it clear that while some groups have been well supported and face relatively better prospects as we enter 2022, others face deep and persistent poverty. Households on universal credit, those with children, people who rent their homes privately, single-parent families and people from Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black backgrounds are all at greater risk of poverty.
WITH ENERGY COSTS SET TO RISE BY AT LEAST 40 PER CENT IN APRIL, WHAT DOES YOUR DATA TELL US ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THIS?
Our recent analysis found that from April, families on low incomes will spend on average 16 per cent of their incomes after housing costs on energy bills, compared to 5 per cent for middle-income families. For lone-parent families on low incomes, this jumps to 22 per cent. Worryingly, these figures were calculated after taking into account the support package announced by the Chancellor in response to the crisis. In our view, the support offered is not targeted enough towards families on the lowest incomes, who will struggle most to cope with the sharp rise in energy bills that is coming, alongside other pressures from the rising cost of food and other essentials.
WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN GROWING UP IN ‘VERY DEEP POVERTY’?
Our latest report found that going into the pandemic, around 1.8 million children in the UK were growing up in very deep poverty, which means the household’s income is so low that it is completely inadequate to cover the basics. This represents an increase of half a million children between 2011-12 and 2019-20.
YOUR FINDINGS ALSO HIGHLIGHT LARGE NUMBERS OF CHILDREN LIVING ON LOW INCOMES FOR PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME – WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THIS?
Around one in five children has lived on a low income for at least three of the four years between 2016 and 2019, in a situation we describe as ‘persistent poverty’. For children in lone-parent families this rises to around one in three children. For many young children, this persistence of poverty means going without essentials is all they have ever known or can remember. More generally, poverty rates for children in families where the youngest child is under five rose between 2013/14 and 2015/16 and since then have plateaued at around 35 per cent. Children in families with older children are less likely to be in poverty, although their poverty rates are nevertheless still higher than across working-age adults or pensioners.
YOU SET UP A GRASSROOTS POVERTY ACTION GROUP – WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?
The Grassroots Poverty Action Group is a group of people with direct experience of poverty that JRF brought together to work with members of our evidence and impact team to inform our work on poverty in the UK. It is a diverse group, representing communities from across the UK who are most at risk of living in poverty, including lone parents, disabled people and unpaid carers. As an organisation we are extremely lucky to benefit from their insights.
WHAT ACTION SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT BE TAKING TO FIGHT POVERTY?
We at JRF think that more immediate support should be made available for those on the lowest incomes, and that it must be adequate to meet the scale of the challenge facing families, and easier to access, ideally administered through the benefits system which is set up to reach those on the lowest incomes.
But immediate measures must go hand in hand with action to permanently strengthen our social security system so that it better equips people to weather economic shocks like this one. Our main out-of-work benefit is at a 30-year low, when inflation is at a 30-year high. That’s just not right, and until this changes we are concerned that the type of real hardship we see in rising food bank use and many recent news reports will only continue to grow.
- JRF’s report was published ahead of the Government announcing more details about the rise in the cost of living from the new financial year, which includes increases to gas and electricity prices due to the energy cap going up, national insurance and council tax hikes, as well as an increases in inflation, impacting mortgage rates.
More information
- UK Poverty 2022: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK: https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-2022
- https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/children-in-poverty-will-bear-the-brunt-of-rising-energy-bills