Households Below Average Income: Statistics Release

Liz Kendall Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Liz Kendall)]

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has today published its annual statistics on incomes and living standards covering 2023-24.

This includes households below average income (HBAI), which contains estimates of household incomes and a range of low-income indicators for 2023-24, derived from the family resources survey.

Further publications in today’s release are: income dynamics, pensioners’ income series, children in low-income families, improving lives indicators, separated families statistics and the family resources survey. These publications cover the four statutory measures of child poverty required to be published by DWP under the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.

Today’s statistics underline how poverty and hardship increased substantially under the last Government. A total of 1.2 million more people were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2023-24 than in 2010-11. That includes 900,000 more children and 200,000 more pensioners in poverty.

The statistics also show that median household incomes fell by 2% in 2023-24 compared to the year before, both before and after housing costs. Child poverty saw the biggest increases between 2022-23 and 2023-24, rising across all four measures: relative and absolute poverty, both before and after housing costs.

Nearly 1 in 5 children—2.6 million—were living in a food insecure household in 2023-24, up from 17% to 18% on the previous year. The number of individuals in households using a food bank in the previous 12 months increased by 500,000 to 2.8 million people in 2023-24, over 4% of the population. These are the highest numbers since records began.

The levels of poverty and food insecurity we inherited are unacceptable. The last Labour Government lifted 600,000 children and over a million pensioners out of poverty. This active Government are determined to drive down poverty, drive up living standards, and grow the economy—this Government’s No.1 priority.

We know that good work is the best route out of poverty. That is why, since the election, we have hit the ground running to get Britain working:

Delivering the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation with our £240 million get Britain working plan: creating a new jobs and careers service, giving Mayors and local leaders new powers and resources to join up work, health and skills support to drive down economic inactivity; and delivering a new youth guarantee so that all 18 to 22-year-olds in England are earning or learning.

Setting out decisive action to fix the broken benefits system to protect people who need support and help those who can into employment through our Pathways to Work Green Paper—including £1 billion a year in employment, skills and health support for disabled people.

Creating more good jobs in every part of the country in clean energy and through our modern industrial strategy.

Investing almost £26 billion in the health and social care system to get people back to health and back to work;

Alongside this, we have taken action to support people on the lowest incomes and those struggling the most, including by:

Boosting the national minimum wage for 3 million of the lowest paid full-time workers, putting up to £2,500 a year in their pockets from this April.

Announcing a permanent, above inflation rise to the standard allowance in universal credit, for the first time ever—increasing it from £92 per week in 2025-26 to £106 per week by 2029-30.

Introducing from April a new fair repayment rate that caps the level of debt repayments that can be taken from universal credit. This puts £420 a year on average into the pockets of 1.2 million of the poorest households.

Extending the household support fund in England until 31 March 2026, with £742 million for local authorities to help families and pensioners facing hardship and additional Barnett funding for the devolved Governments.

Poverty scars the lives and life chances of our children—because you cannot fulfil your potential without food in your belly or a decent roof over your head. So, in addition, we are bringing forward a child poverty strategy to ensure every child has the best start in life.

With our commitment to the triple lock, we are also protecting pensioners who have worked all their lives and deserve security in retirement. Unlike the previous Government, who left over 800,000 pensioners missing out on the pension credit they were entitled to, we are protecting the poorest pensioners by delivering the biggest ever drive to increase uptake. This has seen an 81% increase in applications since July 2024 compared with the same period last year, and 46,000 more awards compared with that period.

Today’s statistics serve to underscore the chances and choices that were denied by the last Government and our determination to support those who are struggling and unleash the potential of the British people.

[HCWS553]