New Report says poverty is deepening and families with disabled children are hit harder
A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows a record number of people in the UK are now living in “very deep poverty”.
This means many people are living in a household where incomes are so far below the poverty line that they cannot reliably afford essentials like food, heating, and clothing. So although on the surface it looks as though not much has changed – poverty rates overall are about the same as they were 5 years ago during the pandemic – things have got much worse for the poorest people.
Highlights from the report
- Very deep poverty is at record levels, affecting around 6.8 million people, nearly half of everyone living in poverty.
- Levels of destitution, which the report defines as “where people cannot afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed”, more than doubled between 2017 and 2022.
- Disabled people are more likely to live in poverty, with a poverty rate of 28%, compared to 20% for non-disabled people.
- Around 2 in every 10 working-age adults are in poverty in the UK, and around 3 in every 10 children.
- The total number of people who are food insecure (at risk of being unable to afford to eat properly) increased 60% – by 2.8 million people – between 2021/22 and 2023/24.
What this means for families raising disabled or seriously ill children
At Family Fund we know that for families raising disabled or seriously ill children, poverty is not just about income. It is also about the additional costs associated with disability, such as specialist equipment or food, or accessible options outside the home, as well as the costs of specialist childcare and respite. In addition, parents caring for disabled or seriously ill children and young people face barriers to increasing paid work. Increases in energy bills and the cost of living over recent years have hit families hard. Our Cost of Caring 2025 report shows how this plays out for families we support:
- 44% of families say their income does not cover basic day-to-day essentials like food and housing.
- 87% of families have no savings at all, meaning a broken essential item can force families into debt or going without.
- More than half of parents (51%) are skipping meals or cutting portion sizes because they cannot afford enough food.
- A third of families (33%) cannot afford to keep their home warm.
These figures show how quickly financial pressure can escalate when families are already stretched. With no or minimal savings, the combination of extra costs and reduced ability to increase paid work can make it harder to cope when prices rise or income falls:
- Greater difficulty managing everyday costs such as food, energy, transport, and household bills.
- Less ability to deal with unexpected expenses, like replacing a broken washing machine or buying essential equipment.
- Increased stress for parents and carers, particularly where caring responsibilities limit opportunities to increase paid work.
What Family Fund is doing about this
Family Fund’s public affairs team works with Government and in partnership with other organisations to raise awareness of the barriers to financial security for families.
- We shared the findings from our Cost of Caring 2025 research with the Government team writing the Child Poverty strategy.
- Family Fund supports the Guarantee Our Essentials campaign, which has been successful in pressing for increases to the rate of Universal Credit.
- We are a member of the End Child Poverty coalition, which successfully campaigned for an end to the two-child limit on benefits.
Of course there is much more work to do to ensure that families have the income they need, whether parents and carers are able to work or not. All our public affairs work is based on what parent carers and families tell us matters most to them.
If you would like to be more directly involved yourself, please get in touch with us by email: [email protected]
How Family Fund can help you
If you are on a low income and raising disabled or seriously ill children or young people, you may be able to apply for a Family Fund grant. Grants can be for anything your family needs, from essential household items, to specialist play equipment, time out together as a family, and practical support to make everyday life a little easier. You can also access a range of support to manage finances and maximise your income through our Discover more support tool.