Context

Around one third of people in the UK suffer significant difficulties and about a quarter have an unacceptably low standard of living. Specifically, one in three people could not afford to adequately heat their homes last winter and 29 per cent had to turn the heating off, down or only heat part of their homes. A third of adults considered themselves to be genuinely poor ‘all the time’ or ‘sometimes’. More than one in four adults (28 per cent) reduced their own food last year so that others in their households could eat properly. A quarter of adults said their incomes were below that needed to avoid poverty and 22 per cent had felt embarrassed by their low income. More than one in five adults had to borrow money last year to pay for their day to day expenses and similar numbers find it a constant struggle to pay their bills or simply cannot keep up with their bill payments.

The study

This research is the largest ever study of poverty conducted in the UK. The research identifies people falling below what the public agrees is a minimum standard of living and measures poverty and exclusion using a wide range of rigorous methods. It also takes in account survey data from 1983, 1990, and 1999.

The research involved the following:

• An attitudes survey which identifies what the population as a whole think are ‘necessities’: things that everyone should be able to afford and which no one should have to go without.
• A living standards survey which finds out who has and who does not have each necessity. It allows a distinction to be drawn between those lacking individual necessities by choice (preference) and those who lack them because they cannot afford them. Only those who cannot afford a necessity are included as being deprived.
• A deprivation count which identifies how many people cannot afford groups of necessities and an overall multiple-deprivation count which identifies how many cannot afford these necessities to the point that affects their whole way of life. Only items seen as a necessity by the majority of the population are included.

Findings from the study are based on two surveys conducted in 2012: the ‘Necessities of Life’ survey, carried out between May and June 2012 and based on a sample of 1,447 adults aged 16 or over in the Britain and 1,015 in Northern Ireland; and the Living Standards survey, carried out between March and December 2012 by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) in Britain and by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in Northern Ireland.

Key findings

The key findings of this research show that:

• Over 30 million people suffer to some extent from financial insecurity
• Nearly 18 million are unable to afford adequate housing conditions
• Around 14 million cannot afford one or more essential household goods
• Nearly 12 million cannot afford to partake in social activities considered necessary
• Around 5.5 million adults go without essential clothing
• Nearly 4 million children and adults are not eating properly by today’s standards
• Around 4 million children go without at least two of the things they need by today’s standards
• Almost 2.5 million children live in damp homes
• Around 1.5 million children live in households without heat.

In addition:

• One in three people could not afford to heat their homes last winter
• 29% had to either turn the heating off or only heat some parts of their homes
• A third of UK adults considered themselves to be genuinely poor either ‘all the time’ or ‘sometimes’
• More than one in four adults cut back on how much food they ate last year so that others in their households could eat
• A quarter of adults pointed out that their incomes were below the standard needed to avoid poverty
• 22% felt embarrassed by their low income
• More than one in five adults had to borrow money last year to pay for their day to day expenses.

From the benefit of the longitudinal aspect of this research, the authors were able to point out that the situation is worse today than it has been for the past thirty years.

Points to consider

• • This report is relevant to all stakeholders and policymakers with an interest in patterns of poverty and social exclusion across the UK.
• • Previous measurements of poverty have been based on parts of the population falling below particular levels of income (e.g. falling 60% below the median income) but the method of measuring poverty in this study benefits from looking at the numbers of people who fall below what the population as a whole think should be a minimum standard of living, which means the measure can be more flexible around contemporary standards and attitudes.

Full report

The Impoverishment of the UK PSE UK first results: Living Standards - full report