Young people and poverty

Street Games have published a report on poverty and young people, aged 14 to 24 in the UK.

Key points include that:

  • Of the nine million young people aged 14 to 24 in the UK, approximately 2.7 million (30 percent) are living in poverty, including 1.9 million young people with an income considerably below the poverty threshold of 50 percent of median income;
  • The poverty rate among 20 to 24 year olds grew by six percent points in the last decade, more than any other age group;
  • 13 percent of young people live in families that are unable to keep their accommodation warm enough;
  • Poverty among young people is highest in London at 38 percent but the proportion of young adults in London claiming an out-of-work benefit is lower than much of the North or England;
  • 380,000 young people in poverty have a long standing illness or disability;
  • Most young people in poverty are white-British, but the poverty rate for non-white British young people is almost double the rate for white British young people;
  • Young people not living with their parents have a much higher poverty rate at 43 percent than those who do at 25 percent;
  • Just under 1.1 million young people in poverty live in private rented accommodation compared to 960,000 in social rented and 680,000 in owner-occupied;
  • More than half of 19 to 24 year olds with children are in poverty; and
  • There are more 19 and 20 year olds in poverty than young people of any other ages.

To download the full report visit www.streetgames.org/www/sites/default/files/Poverty%20among%20young%20people%20in%20the%20UK_FINAL.pdf.