Millions of UK Families Can't Afford Food, Heating or Clothes, New Report Finds

Millions of low-income households across the UK are going without essentials including food, heating and clothing, according to new research showing hardship has reached its highest level since monitoring began.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), a UK anti-poverty charity, said 7.4 million low-income households were unable to afford at least one basic necessity during the past six months, up from 7.1 million a year earlier and the highest figure recorded since its Cost of Living Tracker launched in 2021.

The findings suggest the cost-of-living crisis continues to strain household finances despite lower energy prices and government support measures.

Record Number of Families Going Without Essentials

JRF found that 62% of low-income households had gone without at least one essential item, including adequate food, heating, toiletries, or suitable clothing and footwear.

Nearly half, or 47%, said they had gone hungry, skipped meals or reduced portion sizes during the previous 30 days because they did not have enough money for food, equivalent to around 5.6 million households.

The charity said the latest figures marked the highest level of hardship recorded since it began monitoring the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. While energy bills have eased from their peak, many households remain unable to afford day-to-day necessities, forcing families to make difficult choices over what to cut back.

JRF said respondents continued reporting that they were reducing heating, limiting showers, avoiding social activities and delaying purchases of essential household items to stay within their budgets.

Energy Costs Ease, but Food Remains a Major Burden

The report identified one area of improvement.

The number of low-income households unable to afford adequate heating has fallen by more than half a million over the past two years, which JRF attributed to lower wholesale energy prices and government measures that reduced typical household energy bills.

However, the charity said lower energy costs had not translated into broader financial recovery because many households continued facing high costs for food and other everyday essentials.

For many families, reduced heating bills have simply eased one source of pressure rather than ending the wider affordability crisis.

ONS Data Shows Financial Strain Across Britain

Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK's official statistics agency, point to broader financial pressure across the country.

In May, 66% of adults in Great Britain said their cost of living had increased compared with the previous month.
Among those reporting higher living costs, 93% identified food prices as the main factor, while 77% pointed to fuel costs and 61% cited gas and electricity bills.

The ONS also found that one in four adults said their household would be unable to cover an unexpected £850 expense, highlighting limited financial resilience among many households.

Meanwhile, 35% expected they would be unable to save any money during the next 12 months.
The survey also showed the cost of living remained the country's biggest concern, cited by 89% of respondents ahead of the National Health Service and the economy.

UK Households Continue to Struggle Despite Improving Consumer Confidence Elsewhere

While British households continue reporting widespread financial hardship, consumer confidence in the United States has shown modest improvement.

Surveys from the University of Michigan and the Conference Board found US consumer sentiment strengthened slightly in June, helped in part by lower oil prices.

Even so, American households continued identifying grocery and energy costs as major pressures on their finances, suggesting living costs remain a concern on both sides of the Atlantic.

For Britain, however, JRF's latest findings indicate that millions of households remain unable to afford basic necessities more than four years after the cost-of-living crisis began to intensify.

Although lower energy bills have provided some relief, the charity said many families continue to face impossible trade-offs between paying for food, heating and other essentials, underscoring how deeply financial hardship has become embedded across parts of the country.