Leading social change charity uncovers ‘heart-breaking’ poverty statistics of UK children

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) have laid bare the realities of how many children have been plunged into poverty by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis in a report published yesterday.

Using government data recorded during the first year of the pandemic, JRF reported 13.4 million people were plunged into poverty – 3.9 million were children.

The government showed it could make a difference to the number of people facing poverty during 2021/21 when it introduced the temporary £20 a week increase to universal credit, however the respite period was brief as when the cost-of-living hit authorities failed to increase benefits in line with inflation.

According to JRF research, which was completed this winter, around 7.2 million people have been going without basics such as meals, showers, and heating and 4.7 million are behind on their bills. Last year, April saw the greatest fall in the value of the basic rate of unemployment benefits since 1972 – and the period since has seen low-income households’ finances continue to buckle under the pressure of the cost-of-living.

When help came into force, 400,000 additional children were able to live in a family not in poverty – it now continues that families with more than three children have high poverty rates with almost four in 10 experiencing it.

Alongside the pandemic forcing families to go without, Covid also highlighted profound health inequalities, which are likely to now be placing additional strain on health services. Since 2011, the life expectancy of people living in the most deprived areas of England has been significantly lower.

Between 2018 to 2020 women were expected to live, on average, for nine fewer months and men for four fewer months than they had been from 2011 – 2013. However, when Covid hit in England and Scotland, the death rates were twice as high in deprived areas.

Against this backdrop, the JRF discovered a strong overlap between poverty and ethnicity going into the pandemic. According to their research, the poverty rate for Pakistani people in the UK is 2.3 times that of white people. Additionally, JRF found people in households headed by someone of Pakistani or Black ethnicity also have very high poverty rates of more than four in 10.

Peter Matejic, Chief Analyst at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: ‘This winter we have seen crises collide – the cost of living is forcing families to cut back on essentials and our health service is being overwhelmed by demand.

‘Leaving people to go hungry, skip showers or live in cold homes risks further profound and long-term consequences – not just for individuals’ health but for the state’s capacity to deliver what all of us as citizens should be able to expect.

‘It was heart-breaking and wrong that your family characteristics and race had such a huge impact on your level of risk during the pandemic – and it is also wrong to see such a strong and continuing overlap with poverty rates.

‘But governments are far from helpless and none of this is inevitable. The £20 uplift was the right political choice which clearly made a huge difference during the pandemic and may have prevented what were tremendously difficult years becoming a complete disaster for families around the UK.

‘These problems can be solved, but it takes the political will and imagination to tackle multiple injustices at once – and all of us need a government and an economy that works for us when times are hard.’

Photo by Hayley Murray and Napendra Singh