Poverty rates for children and pensioners are on the increase – a reversal of 20 years of reduced poverty in the UK.
This is according to UK Poverty 2017 (pdf), a December 2017 report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
It identifies that 14 million people live in poverty in the UK – over one in five of the population.
The analysis highlights that the three factors which have led to a fall in poverty and are now under question; state support for people with low incomes is falling in real terms, rents are increasing, and rising employment is no longer reducing poverty. As a result, JRF is calling for a national mission to transform the prospects of millions of people living in poverty in the UK.
JRF chief executive, Campbell Robb, said:
‘These worrying figures suggest that we are at a turning point in our fight against poverty. Political choices, wage stagnation and economic uncertainty mean that hundreds of thousands more people are now struggling to make ends meet.’
Read a summary or the full report (pdf).
