Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2013

The latest annual Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion Report by the New Policy Institute (NPI) gives a comprehensive picture of poverty in the UK. It features independent analysis of a range of indicators, including low income, unemployment, low pay, homelessness and ill health.

Key research points:

– more than half of the 13 million people living in poverty in the UK in 2011/12 were in a working family;

– while the labour market has shown signs of revival in the last year, the number of people in low-paid jobs has risen and average incomes have fallen – around five million people are paid below the living wage;

– there is substantial movement in and out of work;

– 4.8 million different people have claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance in the last two years;

– the proportion of pensioners in poverty is at its lowest for almost 30 years, but the proportion of working-age adults without children in poverty is the highest on record.