Official government poverty figures were updated last week and show that in 2023/24 around 4.45 million children were living in poverty (DWP, 2025). This is up from around 4.33 million the year previously.
This equates to 31% of all children and the data shows that 7 in 10 (72%) are from families where at least one parent is working. The figures note that the increase in poverty “was mainly due to a real-terms fall in income from employment and self-employment for households with children”.
A family is considered to be living in poverty if its household income after housing costs is less than 60% of the median income (about £22,500); they are living in deep poverty if their income is less than 50% of the median.
The new figures show that the poorest families have fallen deeper into poverty – with 3.1 million children now living in deep poverty compared to 2.9 million last year.
The data also shows that 44% of children living in poverty are in single-parent families, while 47% of children from black and minority ethnic groups are in poverty, compared to 24% of white children.
Elsewhere, the data shows that 18% of UK children lived in a “food insecure” household, up by 1% from the year before, while 7.7% lived in a household that had accessed a food bank within the last 12 months, up 2% year-on-year (the equivalent of 300,000 children).
The figures were published last week just as the chancellor delivered her Spring Statement, which set out cuts to welfare that the government’s own analysis predict will push 50,000 more children into poverty by the end of the decade. Effectively, the cuts will mean that more than three million households will lose an average of £1,720 each a year because of cuts to disability and incapacity benefits.
It has sparked a strong response from poverty campaigners and education unions. Mark Russell, chief executive at the Children’s Society, called the poverty figures “disgraceful”.
He continued: “It’s only set to get worse. After the government’s latest round of welfare cuts, too many children will continue to experience the impacts of living in poverty. This simply isn’t right.”
“Poverty doesn't just mean going without food or heating. It bleeds into every aspect of a child's life. It means missing out on school trips, birthday parties, a whole raft of activities and opportunities that all children should be able to enjoy. Without bold action and a proper plan to tackle poverty, these figures will only climb higher. We urge the government to go further and faster, starting with scrapping the two-child limit."
The Child Poverty Action Group has estimated that scrapping the two-child limit on welfare – which means that families do not get means-tested support worth £3,455 a year for their third and subsequent children – would lift 300,000 children out of poverty and leave a further 700,000 in less deep poverty.
A statement from the National Children’s Bureau was equally blunt: “These new figures are a shameful reminder of what happens when government leaves gaping holes in the social safety net. Millions of children and families continue to live in poverty in the world's sixth largest economy, and this news comes only one day after further cuts to welfare were announced by the chancellor.
“The government is preparing a Child Poverty Strategy while announcing changes that push more children into poverty. We will only see the true downward trend in poverty that children desperately need if the new strategy sets out significant investment in social security and legally binding targets to tackle and eventually eradicate child poverty. We need bold, ambitious and urgent action from the government to reverse this trend.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the figures were “a stain on our society”. He added: “Our members see the reality of these numbers. In schools across the country, staff are increasingly carrying the responsibilities of the state. We have support staff washing pupils’ clothes, teachers feeding pupils from their own pockets, school leaders undertaking social work. This is not sustainable and should not be necessary in such a wealthy country.”
Mr Kebede said that if the government wants to make any headway then the two-child limit and benefit cap must be scrapped and universal free school meals implemented.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at the National Association of Head Teachers, described how his members’ schools were increasingly running food banks and “warm hubs”, providing food vouchers, and offering laundry facilities.
He added: “Schools are not realistically in a position to tackle the underlying drivers of child poverty, and relying on them to provide this type of basic household support should not be necessary. While these figures pre-date this government, they should strengthen its resolve to address the root causes of poverty and support families feeling its impact.”
- DWP: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics, March 2025: www.gov.uk/government/collections/households-below-average-income-hbai--2