The report, by the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), shows that a total of 16 million people in the UK currently live in poverty – more than one in five of the population. More than a fifth of the population live on incomes below the poverty line after housing costs are taken into account, even though most of these households are in work. Nearly one in three children live in poverty and the use of food banks is rising. There is a sixfold difference between the income of the top 20% of households and those of the bottom 20%. Wealth inequality is much worse, with 44% of the UK’s wealth owned by just 10% of the population, five times the total wealth held by the poorest half. Credit: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
