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The number of people experiencing destitution in the UK has more than doubled in the last five years – up from 1,550,000 in 2017, according to a major new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
The report also found that 3.8 million people experienced destitution in 2022, including one million children, which is a 88% increase since 2019.
As a general election approaches, JRF is calling on all parties to make tackling destitution a priority and set out their plans to reverse the rise in hardship across the country. It says destitution has become so widespread in part because a political choice has been made to tolerate it, but destitution is not inevitable.
Almost two thirds of people who experienced destitution in 2022 have a disability or chronic health problem. Around 12% of households experiencing destitution in 2022 were Black, Black British, Caribbean or African-led, despite comprising only 4% of the population.
In addition, the social security system is not protecting people from destitution as 72% of those destitute are in receipt of benefits.
A million children experienced destitution last year
The report is the fourth in a series of Destitution in the UK studies, published regularly since 2016 by JRF and undertaken by Heriot-Watt University, in partnership with Kantar Public.
People are considered destitute if they have not been able to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed. This can be because they either lack necessities like clothing, heating, shelter or food. Or because their income is so extremely low that they are unable to purchase these items for themselves.
Paul Kissack, Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “A million children experienced destitution last year – a number that has almost doubled since 2019. Across our country we are leaving families freezing in their homes or lacking basic necessities like food and clothing. Such severe hardship should have no place in the UK today – and the British public will not stand for destitution on this scale.
“The government is not helpless to act: it is choosing not to. Turning the tide on destitution is an urgent moral mission, which speaks to our basic humanity as a country, and we need political leadership for that mission. That is why we are calling for clear proposals from all political parties to address this challenge with the urgency it demands.”
Destitution has increased in all regions of England. London has the highest levels of destitution, followed by the North East and the North West. The rate of increase has been particularly rapid in London and the West Midlands.
The rate of destitution has risen more quickly in Wales than anywhere else since 2019, with the exception of London. Destitution has increased much more slowly in Scotland, with the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment and boosts to local welfare likely to have offered some protection.
Robust data is meaningless unless acted upon
JRF says the UK government should introduce an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ into Universal Credit, to ensure that everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford essentials like food and household bills. This would mean that deductions from benefits, such as those to repay debts to the government, would not be allowed to reduce support below this level.
While working towards this, the UK government should lower the current limit on benefits deductions, reform sanctions so that people are not left with zero or extremely low income, and ensure that people can access the disability benefits they are entitled to.
In addition, cash-first emergency financial assistance should be available in all areas, along with free and impartial advice services to address the crushing debt, benefits and housing issues that keep people destitute. This should also be available to people with ‘no recourse to public funds’.
Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, from the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University, said: “This is the most comprehensive and detailed study of its type but having robust data on destitution is meaningless unless acted upon at the highest levels. The number of children living in destitution in this country has nearly trebled since 2017. This is morally reprehensible and must act as a stark wake up call to policymakers across the political spectrum. No one of any age should be destitute in the UK today.
“To have these horrifying levels of destitution in a country like ours is a political choice. The scale of extreme material hardship we have uncovered reflects the state abdicating its responsibility to ensure that all members of our society are able to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed without having to rely on charitable help. There must be immediate action from all levels of government to tackle this social emergency.”