Contrary to the Labour party election rhetoric a higher percentage of single people experienced poverty between 2010 and 2013 than “hard working families”

The Labour party’s election manifesto was all about families and protecting benefits for families whilst single people, who suffered the brunt of detrimental Conservative social and benefit policies in the previous parliament, were afforded no consideration at all. In the UK, almost half (46%) of those in single adult households experienced poverty at least once in the four years between 2010 and 2013 compared with less than a third of those living in households with two or more adults. Almost 40% of those aged 65 years and over in the UK experienced poverty at least once between 2010 and 2013. Almost a third (33%) of the UK population experienced poverty in at least one year between 2010 and 2013, equivalent to approximately 19.3 million people. In contrast, across the EU as a whole, a quarter (25%) of people were in poverty at least once during that period, with a larger proportion of people in the UK experiencing poverty at least once over those four years than in many other EU countries.

Years in poverty across the EU, 2010-13, percentage population