Child poverty facts and figures

The facts and figures show the reality of child poverty in the UK.

There were 4.2 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2021-22.1 That's 29 per cent of children, or nine in a classroom of 30.2

44 per cent of children living in lone-parent families are in poverty.3 Lone parents face a higher risk of poverty due to the lack of an additional earner, low rates of maintenance payments, gender inequality in employment and pay, and childcare costs.
Children from Black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 48 per cent are now in poverty, compared with 25 per cent of children in white British families.4
Work does not provide a guaranteed route out of poverty in the UK. 71 per cent of children growing up in poverty live in a household where at least one person works.5
Children in larger families are at a far greater risk of living in poverty – 42 per cent of children living in families with 3 or more children live in poverty.6
Between 1998 and 2003 reducing child poverty was made a priority - with a comprehensive strategy and investment in children - and the number of children in poverty fell by 600,000.7

(All poverty figures are after housing costs)

1. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 1.4b. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023
2. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 1.4a. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023
3. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4_5db. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023
4. Author’s Calculations from Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Tables 4_3db & 4_5db. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023
5. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3db. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023
6. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4_5db. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023
7. Households Below Average Income, Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households for financial years 1994/95 to 2021/22, Table 4.3tr. Department for Work and Pensions, 2023