How many children are in poverty in the UK?

DWP's Households Below Average Income report for the financial year ending 2025 (April 2024 to March 2025, published 26 March 2026) put 27% of children in the UK in relative low income after housing costs and 21% before housing costs. Children have higher low-income rates than working-age adults or pensioners.

The same release introduced a measure of deep material poverty, which found 1.9 million children (13%) in that position. The government's child poverty strategy tracks two headline measures: relative low income after housing costs and deep material poverty.

Claims often mix measures, so check whether a figure is relative or absolute, before or after housing costs, and which year. Data linking with benefit records was added in recent years, which DWP describes as a break in the series. Figures by local area come from the separate Children in low income families statistics on Stat-Xplore.

Official sources: HBAI report, FYE 1995 to FYE 2025 · DWP Households Below Average Income statistics

When is the next figure out?

DWP statistics are pre-announced on the GOV.UK research and statistics calendar and published at 9:30am. Universal Credit statistics moved from monthly to quarterly releases in February, May, August and November after a 2026 consultation, with the final monthly release on 14 April 2026; provisional estimates were dropped and each quarterly release adds three months of finalised data. The benefits compendium, Benefit Combinations and National Insurance number allocations are now released together once a year. Fraud and error estimates appear each spring, and expenditure tables follow the Budget and spring forecast.

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Relative and absolute poverty
  Relative poverty means household income below 60% of the median in that year. Absolute poverty uses 60% of a fixed past median, adjusted only for inflation.
• Before and after housing costs (BHC and AHC)
  Two ways of measuring household income: before housing costs (BHC) counts income as received; after housing costs (AHC) deducts rent, mortgage interest and similar costs.
• Households below average income (HBAI)
  The DWP's annual statistics on the distribution of household income in the UK, the main source for official poverty figures.

Where the figures come from

• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics and Stat-Xplore
  Where to find DWP figures on Universal Credit, PIP, State Pension and Pension Credit, how to build a Stat-Xplore table and use the free Open Data API.
• UK poverty and household income statistics (DWP, ONS, DESNZ, Low Pay Commission and devolved governments)
  Where to find official UK poverty, household income, inequality, minimum wage and fuel poverty figures, and how to check claims about them.

Related questions

• How many people are in poverty in the UK?
• How many families were affected by the two-child limit?
• How many children get free school meals?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about poverty, incomes and cost of living: all Poverty, incomes and cost of living questions.