Childhood poverty
Published:
11 September 2024
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Data on the percentage of children in the UK living in relative poverty after housing costs.
Summary main findings
Between 2018 and 2023, the percentage of children living in relative poverty was stable at around 30%.
The percentage of children living in relative poverty has gone up since 2013, when it was 27.1%. It is still below the levels reached in the late 1990s, having reached 33.4% in 1999.
By year
Visualisation
Percentage of children living in relative poverty after housing costs, by country over time (UK, 1994 to 2023)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Year | England (%) | Scotland (%) | Wales (%) | Northern Ireland (%) | UK (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 30.2 | 24.2 | 28.7 | 23.3 | 29.5 |
| 2022 | 30.8 | 24.5 | 27.9 | 22.2 | 29.9 |
| 2021 | 30.6 | 24.6 | 31.3 | 24.8 | 30.0 |
| 2020 | 30.4 | 24.3 | 30.6 | 24.0 | 29.8 |
| 2019 | 30.4 | 23.2 | 28.5 | 25.1 | 29.6 |
| 2018 | 30.3 | 24.2 | 29.1 | 24.0 | 29.6 |
| 2017 | 30.1 | 23.4 | 27.7 | 25.6 | 29.3 |
| 2016 | 29.0 | 22.8 | 29.2 | 25.7 | 28.5 |
| 2015 | 28.3 | 21.6 | 29.1 | 25.3 | 27.7 |
| 2014 | 27.6 | 21.0 | 31.0 | 25.0 | 27.2 |
| 2013 | 27.5 | 20.7 | 31.6 | 24.3 | 27.1 |
| 2012 | 28.2 | 21.4 | 32.3 | 26.4 | 27.8 |
| 2011 | 29.5 | 23.5 | 30.7 | 26.0 | 29.0 |
| 2010 | 30.9 | 24.4 | 32.7 | 26.6 | 30.3 |
| 2009 | 31.5 | 24.5 | 31.8 | 24.8 | 30.8 |
| 2008 | 31.1 | 24.1 | 32.6 | 25.5 | 30.4 |
| 2007 | 29.9 | 24.6 | 30.0 | 25.4 | 29.4 |
| 2006 | 29.0 | 25.0 | 28.7 | 26.7 | 28.6 |
| 2005 | 28.8 | 25.8 | 30.4 | 26.2 | 28.5 |
| 2004 | 29.5 | 27.9 | 31.3 | No data | 29.4 |
| 2003 | 30.1 | 29.6 | 33.6 | No data | 30.2 |
| 2002 | 31.1 | 31.2 | 34.0 | No data | 31.3 |
| 2001 | 32.2 | 31.2 | 35.1 | No data | 32.3 |
| 2000 | 33.1 | 31.0 | 35.5 | No data | 33.0 |
| 1999 | 33.5 | 31.6 | 35.7 | No data | 33.4 |
| 1998 | 33.0 | 31.9 | 36.8 | No data | 33.1 |
| 1997 | 32.9 | 31.7 | 35.8 | No data | 33.0 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Households Below Average Income statistics
Time period
1994 to 2023
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of children living in households in relative poverty after housing costs in the UK.
A household is in relative poverty if their equivalised income is below 60% of the median income for all households in the UK. ‘Equivalised’ means adjusted for the number and ages of the people living in the household.
Things you need to know
Financial years are reported by the year in which they start. For example, 2022 represents the financial year 2022 to 2023. Data is calculated using 3-year averages. For example, the figure for 2022 represents the average of the financial years starting in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 13KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area name
- Time period
- Value
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024