The facts and figures show the reality of child poverty in the UK.
- 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)
Read about solutions to child poverty
- 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