More than a million people in UK living in destitution, study shows

Research by Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds 668,000 households unable to afford essentials such as food, heating and clothes

More than a million people in the UK are so poor they cannot afford to eat properly, keep clean or stay warm and dry, according to a groundbreaking attempt to measure the scale of destitution in Britain.

A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that 184,500 households experienced a level of poverty in a typical week last year that left them reliant on charities for essentials such as food, clothes, shelter and toiletries.