Record number of people in UK live in ‘very deep poverty’, analysis shows

Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds problem is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years'

The UK's poorest families are getting poorer, with record numbers of people classed as in very deep poverty" - meaning their annual household incomes fail to cover the cost of food, energy bills and clothing, according to analysis.

Although overall relative poverty levels have flatlined in recent years at about 21% of the population, life for those below the breadline has got materially worse as they try to subsist on incomes many thousands of pounds beneath the poverty threshold.