Deepening poverty in Wales revealed in new report

The Welsh Government has been urged to take action to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of deep poverty, after a new report revealed little progress has been made over the last 20 years.

The appeal follows an analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and the Bevan Foundation which shows that with rates consistently hovering around 21–22%, poverty is deepening.

The latest analysis from the ‘Poverty in Wales’ report confirms that nearly half a million people in Wales lived in deep poverty in 2020-23, with 310,000 in very deep poverty.

Households below 50% of the median household income are defined as living in deep poverty and those living below 40% are defined as being in very deep poverty.

The proportion of people in very deep poverty has risen from 33% in 1994–97 to 47% in 2020–23, making it the largest segment of people in poverty.

In 2020–23, a couple with 2 primary-school-aged children living in very deep poverty would on average need an additional £13,500 a year to escape poverty.

The report also found that children were the group most likely to be experiencing persistent poverty (18%).

Life expectancy

The analysis also revealed a significant gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of Wales, with women in the least deprived areas living 6.3 years longer and men 7.5 years longer than people in the most deprived areas.

Life expectancy in the most deprived areas has declined since 2011–13, and the healthy life expectancy gap shows men in the most deprived areas living 13.4 fewer healthy years and women 16.9 fewer healthy years than those in the least deprived areas.

The overall figures show that:

More than 1 in 5 people in Wales (22%) are in poverty – 700,000 in total.

Of these, 400,000 are working-age adults (21%), 200,000 are children (31%) and 100,000 are pensioners (16%).

The highest child poverty rates by local authority are Blaenau Gwent (34%), Merthyr Tydfil, Ceredigion and Newport (32%), and the Isle of Anglesey and Pembrokeshire (31%).

‘Shocking’

Dr Victoria Winckler, Director at the Bevan Foundation said: “It is shocking that there has been no progress reducing poverty in Wales in the last twenty years. Even worse, more people are in deep poverty than ever before, forced to use food banks, unable to heat their homes, watching every penny.

“The report shows that the root causes are many years of cuts to social security coupled with a severe shortage of decent jobs and affordable housing.  The steps taken by the Welsh Government to alleviate poverty are welcome, but there is much more to do.

“As political parties gear up for the next Senedd election, we urge them to commit to practical, deliverable action to end poverty.”

‘Wake up call’

Chris Birt, JRF Associate Director for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland added: “Deepening poverty and a child poverty rate of almost one in three in Wales should be a stark wake up call to both the UK Government and all parties aspiring to form the next Welsh Government.

“The Senedd has significant powers that contribute to improving people in Wales’s standard of living. Driving down costs, better connecting communities, providing affordable housing and breaking down barriers to employment are all things they can do to reduce poverty.

“But the scale of the challenge needs to be met by the scale of the response.  The same is of course true of the UK Government. The threadbare social security system is their responsibility, and it drives much hardship.  A good place to start reversing that would be casting the two-child limit into history as quickly as possible.

“There is much work to be done by both the Welsh and UK Governments, but the prize is a Wales where people are able to explore their potential and be free from hardship – something that is miles from reality for far too many people today.”