Poverty Line
The poverty threshold in 2011/12 being £128 per week for a single adult and £357 per week for a couple with two children
- the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion (2013) – (the report identifies people as being in poverty if their household income is below 60 per cent of the median -mid-point – income for all UK households) found in 2011/12:
- 21% of the UK population was in poverty – 13.5 million people
- 31% of UK children were in families in poverty – 4 million children
- 18% of UK pensioners were in poverty – 2 million people
- Within those classified as poor, above, there are some social groups identified by Gordon’s (2000) Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE) survey where poverty is disproportionately high, these are:
- non-retired people who are not working because they are unemployed (77%)
- disabled/sick (61%);
- those on income support (70%);
- lone parents (62%);
- younger people are also more likely to be poor – 16- to 24-year-olds (34%); 25- to 34-year-olds (38%).
- local authority tenants (61 per cent) and housing association tenants (57%)
- divorced or separated people are more likely to be poor (46%)
- ethnicity – higher poverty rate for non-white ethnic groups especially among the Bangladeshi and Black ethnic groups
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