An estimated 2.4m working people were in poverty in 2017, of which 31% also experienced in-work poverty in 2016, new data has shown.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also revealed that a third of people cannot face unexpected expenses, while 23.7% cannot afford a one-week annual holiday.
However, persistent poverty rates in the UK in 2017 are comparable to levels in 2008, equivalent to roughly 4.7 million people, or 7.8% of the population.
These are defined as when an individual or family experiences a relative low income in both the current year and for at least two out of the three preceding years.
Persistent poverty in the UK is lower than the average for the rest of Europe. UK rates are eighth lowest in the European Union and 3.5 percentage points lower than the EU28 average rate of 11.3%. Among EU member states, Czechia has the lowest persistent poverty rate, while Romania has the highest – 4.4% and 19.1%. France and Slovenia have similar persistent poverty rates to the UK – 8.0% and 8.2% respectively.
‘Borderline Dickensian’
Peter Briffett, co-founder and CEO of the income streaming app, Wagestream, which campaigns against payday poverty, said: “For nearly five million people in the UK to be living in persistent poverty is a damning indictment of the state we’re in.
“It’s the 21st Century and yet for far too many households life is borderline Dickensian.
“High inflation and negligible wage growth will have accentuated persistent poverty in recent years, although some will invariably point the finger at austerity measures.
“Hopefully strengthening wage growth and inflation returning to target will be helping more people out of persistent poverty.
“For many people, the knock-on effect of persistent poverty is recourse to high cost credit simply to keep their heads above water and this only makes matters worse. The result is a cycle of debt from which it is near impossible to break free.
“This is exacerbated by the convention that sees most people paid just once a month, which is at odds with our American cousins who are usually paid every two weeks.
“Thankfully more and more UK companies are adopting income streaming pay structures, which are fast becoming the most effective way to prevent UK workers entering debt cycles that are created by bad actors in the high interest credit space.”
The figures come in the wake of allegations made by a UN poverty expert that the UK has violated its human rights obligations through sustained and widespread cuts to social support.
Picture of poverty
In May, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston said policies of austerity introduced in 2010 “continue largely unabated, despite the tragic social consequences”.
But the Department for Work and Pensions branded the report a “barely believable documentation of Britain” and said it painted a “completely inaccurate picture” of its approach to tackling poverty.
Alston, an Australian international law scholar, visited the UK in November last year and his final report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 27.
In the summary of his report, he said that, although the UK is the world’s fifth largest economy, one-fifth of its population (14 million people) live in poverty, and 1.5 million experienced destitution in 2017.
Alston said the Government’s policies had led to the “systematic immiseration (sic) of millions” across Great Britain.
He added: “The social safety net has been badly damaged by drastic cuts to local authorities’ budgets, which have eliminated many social services, reduced policing services, closed libraries in record numbers, shrunk community and youth centres, and sold off public spaces and buildings.
“The bottom line is that much of the glue that has held British society together since the Second World War has been deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos.”
Alston said the policies pursued since 2010 amounted to a clear violation of the UK’s human rights obligations.
But the DWP said it was spending £95bn a year on welfare and maintains a state pension system that supports people into retirement.
A spokeswoman added: “The UN’s own data shows the UK is one of the happiest places in the world to live, and other countries have come here to find out more about how we support people to improve their lives.
“Therefore this is a barely believable documentation of Britain, based on a tiny period of time spent here. It paints a completely inaccurate picture of our approach to tackling poverty.
“All the evidence shows that full-time work is the best way to boost your income and quality of life, which is why our welfare reforms are focused on supporting people into employment and we introduced the National Living Wage, so people earn more in work.”
Chancellor Philip Hammond dismissed the findings outright.
He told BBC2′s Newsnight: “I reject the idea that there are vast numbers of people facing dire poverty in this country.”
He said: “I don’t accept the UN rapporteur’s report at all.
“I think that’s a nonsense. Look around you, that’s not what we see in this country.
“Of course there are people struggling with the cost of living. I understand that.
“But the point being is that we are addressing these things through getting to the root causes.”