About one in five people live in absolute or relative poverty if their housing costs are included
What was claimed
One in five people lives in absolute poverty. Over 14 million people are living in absolute poverty.
Our verdict
Around 13 million people are living in absolute poverty in the UK, after housing costs are taken into account—that’s one in five. 14 million people are living in relative poverty, after housing costs.
“One in five people lives in absolute poverty, over 14 million people are living in absolute poverty in our country.”
Chuka Umunna, 30 November 2017
An estimated one in five people are living in absolute or relative poverty in the UK, once housing costs are taken into account—according to the latest figures for 2015/16. That’s around 13 million people in absolute poverty, and 14 million people in relative poverty.
Before housing costs, this falls to around one in seven living in absolute poverty, and one in six living in relative poverty.
You can read more on the different ways poverty is measured in our supercheck.
15% of people in the UK were in absolute poverty before housing costs in 2015/16. That’s 9 million people. 20%, or 13 million people, were in absolute poverty after housing costs.
Join 74,000 newsletter subscribers who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
Was this helpful?
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.