Development of a new measure of poverty: statistical notice
Updated 6 March 2024
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Update 6 March 2024
The Department for Work and Pensions is now developing the ‘Below Average Resources’ statistics as ‘Official Statistics in Development’ to provide a new additional measure of poverty based on the approach proposed by the Social Metrics Commission.
The first release of Below Average Resources: developing a new poverty measure statistics was published on 18 January 2024.
Introduction
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes Households Below Average Income (HBAI) National Statistics annually.
These statistics estimate the number and percentage of people living in low income households in the UK. It meets DWP’s statutory obligation to publish a measure of relative and absolute low income, and low income and material deprivation for children under section 4 of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.
Social Metrics Commission
In September 2018, the Social Metrics Commission (SMC) published the ‘A New Measure of Poverty in the UK’ report in which they proposed a new method for measuring poverty.
The SMC is an independent commission that was formed with the aim of developing a new approach to poverty measurement that both better reflects the nature and experiences of poverty that different families in the UK have and that can be used to build a consensus around poverty measurement and action in the UK.
The SMC report concluded that their new metric accounts for the negative impact on people’s weekly income of inescapable costs such as childcare and the impact that disability has on people’s needs; and includes the positive impacts of being able to access liquid assets such as savings, to alleviate immediate poverty. The commission’s metric also included groups of people previously omitted from poverty statistics, like those living on the streets and those just above the low income threshold but in overcrowded housing.
This SMC metric was also positioned within a wider framework, with the aim of seeing a more detailed picture of exactly who is poor, and the range of factors that can detrimentally impact on their lives, their experience of poverty and their future chances of remaining in, or entering poverty.
Feedback
At this stage the department is keen to receive feedback from users on what they would like to see included in the new report and what their priorities would be. This feedback can be considered as we develop the new publication.
Email your feedback to: team.povertystats@dwp.gov.uk.