plans to cut welfare payments. Almost 4.5 million children were living in low-income households in the year ending March 2024, according to the Department of Work and Pensions — the highest number since records began in 2002-2003. The figure rose from a previous record of 4.33 million in March 2023 to 4.45 million last year.

A household is considered to be in relative poverty if it lies below 60 percent of the median income, or below £337 ($435) per week. The record figures come after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government announced cuts to disability welfare payments among other spending cuts. According to the government’s own estimates, changes to the welfare system risk plunging 50,000 more children into poverty in the next five years.

Meanwhile, 21 percent of the population, or 14.25 million people, were in poverty as per the data, down slightly from the previous year. While inflation has slowed significantly in the last two years, it had surged to more than 10 percent in 2022-2023 as energy and food prices skyrocketed following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The subsequent cost-of-living crisis continues to grip British households, with wages failing to keep up with rising prices.  Charity Save the Children described the latest data as “a source of national shame” and “direct consequence of political choices”. (Jamaica Observer)