Cost of living crisis: Nearly 1m Britons just £10 away from falling into poverty: 'Teetering on the edge!'

Both Labour and the Conservatives will be pleading their case to voters with JRF's research suggesting millions of households are "teetering on the edge" of dire poverty.

The UK has experienced an unprecedented rise in the cost of living due to a combination of factors, including high inflation, rising interest rates and soaring energy bills.

During tonight's debate, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is urging Starmer and Sunak to address the ongoing issue of poverty, which it refers to as a "stain on the moral conscience of our nation”.

Some 3.2 million people in the UK are only £40 a week from poverty, according to analysis from the think tank. This is the equivalent to the entire population of Wales.

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This group struggling with the cost of living includes 700,000 children, 1.5 million working-age adults and one million pensioners, the think tank claims.

Notably, around 900,000 of this group are only £10 a week away from falling into poverty, including 200,000 children, 400,000 working-age adults and 300,000 pensioners.

As it stands, there are 14.2 million people living in poverty across the country, based on analysis of statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Britain last experienced a prolonged period of falling poverty nearly two decades ago, the foundation claims.

Last month, seven million households reported that they had gone days without essentials like showers, toiletries or adequate clothing in the last six months or had gone skipped meals over the previous 30 days.

The foundation cites that a sizable proportion of the British public are close to deep or very deep poverty lines which means they are living on incomes less than 50 per cent or 40 per cent of the country's average, respectively.

Recently, the consumer price index (CPI) rate of inflation for April eased to 2.3 per cent in a sign that the UK's economic prospects are improving with energy bills also dropping in recent months.

However, the Bank of England is not expected to cut interest rates until the later half of the year and energy prices are expected to rise once again in the months ahead.

Paul Kissack, the CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Such high levels of hardship, with millions experiencing poverty and millions more teetering on the edge of it, are a stain on the moral conscience of our nation.

“It has been six prime ministers since this country last made sustained progress on reducing poverty. During that time we've seen a sustained rise in the number of people in deep poverty, with hardship and destitution growing even faster.

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"Whoever is Prime Minister after July 4th must make reversing this dismal trend a priority. Our political leaders must be specific and ambitious about how they will tackle poverty.

"But so far there hasn’t been anything like the level of urgency from either Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer that we need to see.

"Pointing to future growth as a panacea just won’t cut it. Tonight’s debate is a chance for both leaders to set out their plans and demonstrate they are serious about addressing hardship.

"Failure to act is a political and moral choice, and one they should expect to be judged on.”