Children are the group most likely to be in poverty, so their families are the most likely to receive benefits that were increased during the pandemic. Most pensioners are not in work, so their incomes were less likely to have been affected during this period.
Poverty within the UK is particularly concentrated in Wales. While the relative income-poverty rate for the UK stood at 16.8% in 2014, the same poverty rate for Wales stood at 23% in the same year. Poverty in Wales has remained in the 25% range, with only small dips throughout the last decade.
In 2021/22, 8.9 million people (13% of the UK) were living in absolute poverty Before Housing Costs were deducted (BHC). 11.4 million people (17% of the UK) were living in absolute poverty After Housing Costs were deducted (AHC). REMINDER: Caution is advised in making year-on-year comparisons after 2019/20.
The income poverty rate varies substantially between ethnic groups: Bangladeshis (65%), Pakistanis (55%) and black Africans (45%) have the highest rates; black Caribbeans (30%), Indians (25%), white Other (25%) and white British (20%) have the lowest rates.
As of 2010 about half of those living in poverty are non-Hispanic white (19.6 million). Non-Hispanic white children comprised 57% of all poor rural children. In FY 2009, African American families comprised 33.3% of TANF families, non-Hispanic white families comprised 31.2%, and 28.8% were Hispanic.
According to the Federal Reserve, white households held more than 80% of the nation's assets in 2022.
42% of White British households were in the 2 highest income quintiles (after housing costs) – the highecst percentage out of all ethnic groups. 10% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani households were in the 2 highest income quintiles (after housing costs) – the lowest percentages out of all ethnic groups.
All ethnic minority groups are under-represented in the top 20% of the wealth distribution. Only 2% of Black African households were in the wealthiest fifth of British households pre-pandemic, while more than half were in the least wealthy fifth.
white British families (51%) were the most likely to receive a non-income related benefit, including the State Pension – families from the Chinese ethnic group (23%) were the least likely to.
Households are in low income if they live on less than 60% of the median income. Median income (before housing costs) was just under £30,000 for a couple with no children in the period from January 2019 to December 2020.
In 2020/21, around one in five people in the UK (20%) were in poverty – 13.4 million people. Of these, 7.9 million were working-age adults, 3.9 million were children and 1.7 million were pensioners. Therefore, one in four children in the UK are living in poverty (27%).
Main points. Median household disposable income in the UK was £32,300 in the financial year ending (FYE) 2022, a decrease of 0.6% from FYE 2021, based on estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Household Finances Survey.
Having measured the states of deprivation across thirty-two thousand eight hundred and forty-four areas in the country, the researchers concluded that the community that lies east of Jaywick near Clacton-on-Sea is the most deprived region in the country.
There remains huge variations in poverty rates by ethnicity. Around half of all people in households headed by someone of Bangladeshi ethnicity were in poverty in 2020/21. This figure was over four in ten for people in households headed by someone of Pakistani or Black ethnicity.
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Government data about the UK's different ethnic groups. 82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (2021 Census data). Find information about the experiences and outcomes of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
Black British citizens, with African and/or African-Caribbean ancestry, are the largest ethnic minority population, at three percent of the total population. Indian Britons are one of the largest overseas communities of the Indian diaspora and make up 2.3 percent of the total UK population.
As with last year, the 2020 compilation of Britain's 1,000 wealthiest people consists of 85 entrants from ethnic minority backgrounds. Beneath this headline figure, there is a glaring imbalance - 81 of the non-white Rich Listers are Asian, while just four are black.
People who identified as “Chinese” or “Indian” (both within “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh”) had the highest levels of education of the 19 ethnic groups we analysed, closely followed by “African” (within “Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African”).
White British households had a higher rate of home ownership than most ethnic minority households. however, 74% of Indian households were homeowners, a higher rate than White British households. Mixed White and Asian households had a similar rate of home ownership to White British households (at 70%)
Households from Indian, Chinese and White ethnic groups have the highest income. There is significant income inequality between ethnic groups in the UK.
Key takeaway: Asian/Pacific Islander students had the largest high school graduation rates of any race/ethnicity in 2014, 89% followed by white students. Black students had the lowest graduation rates, with less than three-quarters of students starting high school in 2010 and graduating by 2014.
Similarly, 88% of those in the one percent identify as white, compared to 68% of those in the bottom 99% (see Figure 1). African Americans and Latinos are particularly underrepresented at the top: 4% of those in the one percent are African American, and 2% are Latino.
Chinese and South-Asian Canadians are among the top earners and most educated.