Following #UKPoverty2026, more warning signs flashing. As well as describing problem of insufficient income from work, the Minimum Income Standard helps the solution as the key data source for the Real Living Wage @livingwageuk.bsky.social. Even with falling inflation, costs continue to bite.
It's been 125 years since Seebohm Rowntree first outlined the scale and depth of poverty people faced. This report shows that poverty in the UK is still not just widespread, it is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years. Peter Matejic, Chief Analyst, JRF
📖 Weekend reading!
It's unjust that the poorest people in the UK are getting poorer. Poverty is hardening, not easing.
That's the shocking finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's #UKPoverty2026 report, launched this week.
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
💻 Missed our #UKPoverty2026 webinar?
You can now watch the full session on JRF's YouTube channel, along with all of our analyst videos and the animation we worked on alongside the Grassroots Poverty Action Group (GPAG).
View them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDHrMxMG1Is
🫂 'Without stronger support, poverty rates for carers will continue to be higher'
In the final of our short videos for #UKPoverty2026, Lead Analyst @datataha.bsky.social explains that carers face a far higher rate of poverty than those who don't have caring responsibilities 👇
Find out more in the ‘Cost of living’ chapter of our #UKPoverty2026 report, starting on page 133.
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
🛒 'Nobody should have to skip meals to pay the bills’
Senior Analyst Andrew Wenham lays out results from our recent cost-of-living tracker and how they interact with our findings in #UKPoverty2026.
The government must invest in social security to ensure no-one is going without the essentials 🔽
Read the ‘Groups with unacceptably high rates of poverty’ section of #UKPoverty2026 here.
You can also read the full 'Disability and Poverty' chapter, starting on page 87 of the report 👇
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
🔎 Find out more in the ‘'Work and Poverty’ chapter of #UKPoverty2026, starting on page 100.
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
🔎 Find out more in the ‘'Work and Poverty’ chapter of #UKPoverty2026, starting on page 100.
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
Want to find out more about #UKPoverty2026?
Has a stat, the methodology or something else grabbed your attention?
On Wed 4th Feb from 12-2pm, we'll be hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit with our analysis team.
Questions open on Monday.
www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics...
On #In-WorkPoverty, #UKPoverty2026 reports: "In-work poverty has become a persistent feature of the labour market, with rising numbers of workers unable to achieve a decent standard of living, despite being in employment. The type and quality of work available are critical."
Find out more about how housing and poverty interact in the 'Groups with unacceptably high rates of poverty' section of #UKPoverty2026
You can also read the full 'Housing and Poverty' chapter of the report, starting on p. 122
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
Our lead analyst Joseph Elliott takes you through the interactive Data Dashboard, launched for the first time this year alongside #UKPoverty2026 🔽
You can read the ‘Groups with unacceptably high rates of poverty’ chapter of our #UKPoverty2026 report here:
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
Read the ‘Poverty across the UK’ section of #UKPoverty2026 here 👇
Full 'Geography and Poverty' chapter starts on p.72 of the report.
www.jrf.org.uk/uk-poverty-2...
Really grateful for Mwenza from @foodandsolidarity.bsky.social repping the north-east and speaking out so clearly about the grim picture of #ukpoverty2026 as a continued political choice, and highlighting the urgent need for collective care and action on issues such as rent control.
Solidarity is very important, but we need root and branch political commitment, policy and change AND addressing housing and benefit issues @jrf-uk.bsky.social @statspeter.bsky.social #ukpoverty2026
👣 ‘This is a huge first step, but it can't be the only one’
Our conditional scenarios work for #UKPoverty2026 shows the impact of scrapping the two-child limit, with 500k families expected to benefit from April.
But a more comprehensive plan is needed, says Lead Analyst @sam-tims.bsky.social 👇
#UKPoverty2026 1 in 5 people in the UK are in poverty.
❌ ‘The longer we accept this as normal, the greater the damage it does’
Our Chief Analyst @statspeter.bsky.social gives an overview of the numbers in #UKPoverty2026 of children, working-age adults and pensioners living in poverty, and what the lack of progress means for society 🔽
Card showing an image of a family with a mother and two children, below a metaphorical poverty line. Text reads 'The average person in poverty now lives 29% below the poverty line, compared with 23% in the mid 1990s.
📢 The latest figures from #UKPoverty2026 reveal a picture of poverty hardening, not easing.
The average person in poverty in 2021-24 was 29% below the poverty line.
This is up from 23% in 1994-97.
As people fall further into poverty, the impact on their lives worsens.
"Bad news for society."
The latest Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) #UKPoverty2026 report paints a stark picture of the UK today:
3 in 10 children are living in poverty.
6.8 million people live in very deep poverty.
👉 Read John Bird’s response
Across the country, households struggling to get by are being overlooked.
@jrf-uk.bsky.social’s latest #UKPoverty2026 report shows that nearly 1/2 of the 14 million people in poverty are living in very deep poverty, on incomes so low they cannot reliably afford essentials like food and heating.
Image of Susannah Hardyman MBE, CEO of Impetus with her quote: 4.5 million children growing up in poverty – 3 in 10 in the UK – is an inexcusable figure, with consequences that can cast a long shadow over a young person’s life. We know that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds face systematically worse outcomes at every stage in the journey from school to work. This is not a status quo we can accept. The upcoming Schools White Paper offers a real opportunity to intervene early, disrupting this cycle before challenges become entrenched.
"This is not a status quo we can accept."
This morning Joseph Rowntree Foundation launched their annual #UKPoverty2026 report. Read our CEO's full response: www.impetus.org.uk/news-and-views/uk-povert...
🗣️ “Nothing’s changed? Everything’s changed. It’s worse.”
We were privileged to work alongside the Grassroots Poverty Action Group (GPAG) on the foreword of our #UKPoverty2026 report that launched this morning.
They also shared their reflections on they key findings in this impactful video ⬇️
Analysis in our latest #UKPoverty2026 report finds that very deep poverty - meaning annual household incomes fail to cover the cost of food, energy bills and clothing - is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years.
That #UKpoverty2026 is a depressing, if sadly predictable, read shouldn't let us become immune or normalised to these levels of poverty & inequality. More can be done. This can be changed but it takes sustained effort across society. In the meantime, am glad churches at the forefront of addressing.
