Updated child poverty statistics 2024-25: broken down

The most recent government figures show that 4 million children in the UK are living in poverty - that's 27% of all children.

• 41% of children in single-parent families, compared to 23% in couple families, live in poverty
• 45% of children living in poverty are in larger families (of 3+ children), compared to 21% in one-child and 19% in two-child families
• 72% of children in working families live in poverty
• 51% of children in poverty live in families where the youngest is under 5
• 40% of children in poverty are in families where someone is disabled

2 million children were living in 'food insecure' households, which shows a decline from 2.6 million in 2023-24.

However, in 2024-35 1 million children were in households that had used a food bank in the last 12 months - 6.6% of all UK children.

300,000 children were in families that had used a food bank in the last 30 days.

Of the overall 4 million, 3.5 million children (23%) are living in material deprivation, which means their families can't afford basic items or activities that many of us think are essential.

Children are considered as materially deprived if they lack 4 or more of the following 22 items/things:

1. Go on school trip at least once a term
2. Have a place for homework*
3. Have three meals a day*
4. Eat fresh fruit and/or vegetables every day*
5. Have comfortable clothes*
6. Attend organised activity once a week
7. Have friends round monthly
8. Have age suitable games/toys*
9. Enough bedrooms for every child 10 years or over and of a different gender
10. Go to a playgroup at least once a week
11. At least one week's holiday away from home with family
12. Keep up to date with bills*
13. Money aside for unexpected expenses*
14. Replace/repair appliances*
15. Keep home in good state of decoration/repair*
16. Keep home adequately warm*
17. Keep home damp free*
18. Have access to reliable internet
19. Have access to computer/tablet
20. Have access to reliable transport*
21. Heating/electrics in good working order*
22. Home contents insurance

Children are considered as living in deep material poverty if they lack 4 of the 13 items marked with * in the list above.

62% of all children in deep material poverty come from working families.

Because HBAI figures are calculated for the previous financial year, there is a lag of 12 months between the period covered and when these statistics are made available - therefore, this data doesn't consider the removal of the two-child benefit cap from 6th April 2026.

Next year's figures should show a significant fall because of this policy change.

Scotland is the only UK nation where child poverty appears to be decreasing, likely in large part because of the impact of the Scottish Child Payment.

We continue to provide over three hundred services to children, young people and families across the UK to help them with the devastating impacts of child poverty.

With your support, we could expand our reach.