More than 13 million living in poverty, new figures show

The number of people living in relative poverty in the UK rose by half a million in the year up to March 2025, new government figures have shown.

There are now 13.4 million living in relative poverty, including four million children. The number of pensioners living in relative poverty increased from 1.49 million to 1.69 million.

A person is considered to be in relative poverty if they are living in households with income below 60% of the median average income of the population.

Announcing the figures, Work and Pensions Minister Diana Johnson said the levels of poverty were "wholly unacceptable" and the government was taking "robust action to change the course".

Although there has been an increase in the number of people in poverty, as a percentage of the overall population it has only risen slightly, from 19% to 20%, between 2023/24 and 2024/25, the report shows.

Peter Matejic, chief analyst at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "The latest statistics show overall poverty rose slightly and there was little change in child poverty in the first year of the Labour government."

He said the foundation expected to see the number of children in poverty fall as a result of the government's decision to remove the two-child benefit limit from April 2026, but added that: "The bottom line is that far too many families are still in poverty."

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the change in numbers was not "statistically significant".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said reducing child poverty by the next election in 2029 was one of his government's top priorities.

These are the first figures produced under a new system for estimating poverty levels, which the government says is more accurate.

It means successive governments have effectively over-estimated poverty levels in recent years.

The reason for this is that people taking part in the Family Resources Survey have tended to under-report their income.

Data on the precise amount of benefits people are receiving has now been factored in to figures for each year going back to 2021.

It means that the number of children officially categorised as being in relative poverty last year was 400,000 lower than previously estimated.

The numbers for overall individuals living in poverty has also been revised for the last four years. In 2023/24, the number had been put at 14.25 million but this has now been changed to 12.93 million.

Ben Gregg, head of welfare at the Centre for Social Justice think tank, said the figures showed the "absurdity of the 'relative low-income' measure".

"A 2% fall in muddled estimates means nothing for those who actually lack life's basic necessities," Gregg said.

"There are 1.5 million children growing up in workless households today, who are four times more likely to lack the basics of childhood than their peers.

"Rather than trying to move people from just below to just above an arbitrary line, we must return to a relentless focus on work as the most sustainable route out of poverty."

The revision is not expected to have a big impact on government projections that its policies - including lifting the two-child benefit cap - could lift 500,000 children out of relative poverty by 2030.

Labour promised to lift the cap - which means parents can only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children - following pressure from its own backbenchers.

The move, which will take effect in April, is expected to cost £3bn a year by 2029-30.

Some opposition parties have criticised the policy, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch arguing that people on benefits "should have to make the same choices on having children as everyone else".

Reform UK had initially backed lifting the cap on the grounds that it would encourage people to have children, however it later reversed its position.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended the policy saying the cap "pushes kids into poverty more than any other" and had "made almost no difference to the size of families".

The latest figures show 24% of children (3.51 million) are estimated to be living in material deprivation.

Someone is deemed to be living in material deprivation if the family does not have a certain number of items from a list developed by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The items on the list include living in a damp-free home, having the ability to pay bills without cutting back on essentials, having access to a computer and reliable internet and having contents insurance.

For children, items include having a place to do homework, getting three meals a day and having age-suitable toys.