 poverty in the uk 2021 poverty in the uk 2021 barsha mer 29092021 1127 can you survive with less than 2 a day it seems unimaginable right surviving on less than 2 per day is a reality for approximately 600 million people throughout the world today despite being one of the richest countries in the world there are millions of individuals across the united kingdom who suffer from poverty about 8 of the population in the world lives in severe poverty which is usually defined as living on less than 190 per day despite being one of the richest countries in the world millions of individuals in the united kingdom suffer from poverty if housing costs are taken into account the government believes that up to 145 million individuals were in poverty before the outbreak with a population of over 67 million people it translates to one out of every four or five individuals in the uk according to the legatum institute another 700000 individuals were forced into poverty as a result of the pandemic bringing the total number of people living in poverty to almost 15 million it has been an issue in the united kingdom for a long with a decade of public service layoffs driving many families farther into poverty many people s lives were rendered even more difficult by the covid19 issue as many were laid off lost revenue due to the furlough program and suffered higher living expenses while in isolation before the covid19 pandemic median household net income had been gradually increasing for two years increasing by 3 from 201718 to 201920 but in 12 years before 200708 before the latest recession this still amounted to only a 9 increase overall if the prefinancialcrisis rate of 22 annual growth had persisted after 200708 median income would already have risen over 20 by 201920 however several indicators of poverty increased as the outbreak began the percentage of persons admitting to being behind on at least one of several household expenses increased by 22 from 201819 to april may 2020 many people struggled to buy their food and were compelled to rely on food banks food banks were used by 19 of the total population in april may 2020 up from 17 in february households experiencing relative income poverty before the outbreak assessed from 2016 to 2019 experienced the greatest increases in privation when the pandemic first started almost all of the indicators showed minimal change in households that were not poor before the pandemic the percentage of poor households that were behind on their bills increased from 15 in 201819 to 22 in april may 2020 compared to a considerably lower increase from 5 to 6 in prepandemic households the uk was already suffering from poverty but the pandemic has exacerbated the situation the country is gradually returning to normal as the lockdown is lifted the uk government must however do something to alleviate poverty surviving on less than 2 per day is a reality for approximately 600 million people throughout the world today despite being one of the richest countries in the world there are millions of individuals across the united kingdom who suffer from poverty about 8 of the population in the world lives in severe poverty which is usually defined as living on less than 190 per day despite being one of the richest countries in the world millions of individuals in the united kingdom suffer from poverty if housing costs are taken into account the government believes that up to 145 million individuals were in poverty before the outbreak with a population of over 67 million people it translates to one out of every four or five individuals in the uk according to the legatum institute another 700000 individuals were forced into poverty as a result of the pandemic bringing the total number of people living in poverty to almost 15 million it has been an issue in the united kingdom for a long with a decade of public service layoffs driving many families farther into poverty many people s lives were rendered even more difficult by the covid19 issue as many were laid off lost revenue due to the furlough program and suffered higher living expenses while in isolation before the covid19 pandemic median household net income had been gradually increasing for two years increasing by 3 from 201718 to 201920 but in 12 years before 200708 before the latest recession this still amounted to only a 9 increase overall if the prefinancialcrisis rate of 22 annual growth had persisted after 200708 median income would already have risen over 20 by 201920 however several indicators of poverty increased as the outbreak began the percentage of persons admitting to being behind on at least one of several household expenses increased by 22 from 201819 to april may 2020 many people struggled to buy their food and were compelled to rely on food banks food banks were used by 19 of the total population in april may 2020 up from 17 in february households experiencing relative income poverty before the outbreak assessed from 2016 to 2019 experienced the greatest increases in privation when the pandemic first started almost all of the indicators showed minimal change in households that were not poor before the pandemic the percentage of poor households that were behind on their bills increased from 15 in 201819 to 22 in april may 2020 compared to a considerably lower increase from 5 to 6 in prepandemic households the uk was already suffering from poverty but the pandemic has exacerbated the situation the country is gradually returning to normal as the lockdown is lifted the uk government must however do something to alleviate poverty can you survive with less than 2 a day it seems unimaginable right  