- The latest government figures show a rise in absolute poverty rates
- This happened despite living expenses payments intended to ease the burden
- Charity Turn2us called rise in impoverished children a ‘national crisis’
About 600,000 low-income people will be in absolute poverty by 2023, despite government support payments – half of them were children.
In response to rising energy bills and the high cost of living, the government has started making fixed payments to millions of households from 2022.
But the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that 600,000 people will be in absolute poverty by 2023, including 300,000 children.
Absolute poverty occurs when a person is unable to afford the basic necessities of existence, such as food, housing and other bills.
New DWP figures show that there were 12 million people living in absolute poverty after paying housing costs in 2023, up from 11.4 million in 2022.
Unforgivable: half of those living in absolute poverty are children, government figures show
The number of children in absolute poverty rose from 3.3 million to 3.6 million in the same period.
Government support for living expenses included the payment of living expenses, worth £650 per year, later increased to £900.
Other assistance was available, such as Disabled Living Costs Payment (£150), Pensioner Living Costs Payment (£300), energy bill discounts of £400 and Council Tax discounts of £ 150 for those in groups A to D.
But many charities warned the government that these payments would not be enough to help many avoid falling into poverty.
Claire Atchia McMaster, director of revenue and external affairs at anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said: ‘The latest rise in child poverty rates in Britain should be treated as a national emergency. In a country as prosperous as ours, it is unacceptable that millions of children are deprived of essentials such as food and clothing, blocking their path to success.
“We reiterate the call for urgent action to address this crisis. It is imperative to invest in policies that directly support low-income families, such as increasing support through Universal Credit and removing punitive policies, including the two-child limit.”
Save the Children UK senior policy adviser on child poverty Meghan Meek-O’Connor said: ‘These shocking figures should be an urgent wake-up call to all of us, especially the UK government: we cannot continue like this. There is no reason why children should go without food, heat, toys or beds.”
The DWP said that without help for living costs, the total number of people on low incomes in poverty would rise to 13.3 million by 2023 – 1.3 million more than it is today.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride said: ‘I know the last few years have been tough, with the aftershocks of Covid and the war in Ukraine pushing up inflation and pressure on the cost of living.
‘That’s exactly why we introduced the largest cost of living package in Europe, worth an average of £3,800 per household, and this unprecedented support has prevented 1.3 million people from falling into poverty by 2022/2023.’
