UK Households Below Average Income Figures 2009-10
Author: DWP
Published: 2011/05/13 - Updated: 2026/02/20
Publication Type: Announcement
Category Topic: Europe - Related Publications
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This report, published by the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), presents the official Households Below Average Income statistics for 2009/10, detailing the number and percentage of children, pensioners, and working-age adults living in relative and absolute poverty across the United Kingdom. The figures, drawn from the UK's primary measure of income distribution, showed that 5.7 million working-age adults were living in relative poverty before housing costs, while 3.8 million children were in relative poverty after housing costs - numbers described at the time as among the highest since records began. The report includes a statement from then-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith addressing income inequality and outlining plans for welfare reform, including Universal Credit. The information is particularly relevant to people with disabilities, pensioners, and low-income families who are disproportionately affected by poverty and benefit policy changes in the UK - Disabled World (DW).
- Topic Definition: Households Below Average Income (HBAI)
Households Below Average Income (HBAI) is the UK Government's primary statistical publication measuring income distribution and poverty levels across the United Kingdom. Published annually by the Department for Work and Pensions, the HBAI figures report the number and percentage of individuals - broken down by children, pensioners, and working-age adults - living below defined poverty thresholds, calculated both before and after housing costs are deducted. The distinction between Before Housing Costs (BHC) and After Housing Costs (AHC) is significant because housing expenses consume a disproportionate share of income for lower-income households, meaning the AHC figures typically reveal a substantially larger population in poverty. These statistics are widely used by policymakers, researchers, disability organizations, and anti-poverty campaigners to assess the effectiveness of government welfare programs and to advocate for changes that affect the most economically vulnerable groups in British society.
Introduction
UK Government Response to Households Below Average Income Figures
The latest Households Below Average Income figures were published today. The statistics cover the UK income distribution in 2009/10, including the latest figures for the number and percentage of children, pensioners and working-age people in the UK living in relative and absolute poverty.
Main Content
In 2009/10, 16 percent of working-age adults (5.7 million) living in relative poverty Before Housing Costs (BHC) and 22 percent (7.9 million) After Housing Costs (AHC). Compared to 2008/09, this was flat in percentage point terms (a fall of 0.1m) on a BHC basis and was flat in percentage point terms (a rise of 0.1m) AHC.
The number of people in working-age poverty is amongst the highest since records began.
In 2009/10, 16 percent (1.8 million) AHC and 18 percent of pensioners (2.1 million) were living in relative poverty BHC. Compared to 2008/09, this represents no change AHC and a fall of 2 percentage points (0.2m) on a BHC basis.
In 2009/10, 20 percent of children (2.6 million) living in relative poverty BHC and 29 percent (3.8 million) AHC. Compared to 2008/09, this represents a fall of 2 percentage points (0.2m) on a BHC basis and a fall of 1 percentage point (0.1m) AHC.
Overall inequality remains at historically high levels. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, said:
"These figures lay bare the growth of income inequality in the UK which is now the highest it has ever been. This gap between the poorest and richest in our society has accelerated over the last five years despite an astonishing £150 billion injected into tax credits alone. The end result has been to make benefit dependency and unemployment inherent to the UK way of life with middle and low income earners picking up the bill."
"This underlines the urgent need for our radical program for Welfare Reform and especially Universal Credit which will make work pay and end the madness of generations living on benefits with no reason to aspire for more. Any drop in poverty is to be welcomed, but it must be sustainable, and the only way we will achieve that is through work."
"Our plans will lift almost a million people including 350,000 children, out of poverty and help people back into work, improving the life chances of their children and ending the depressing spiral of a lifetime on benefits that blights too many of our towns and cities."
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: These 2009/10 figures captured the UK at a critical juncture - income inequality at historic highs, working-age poverty near record levels, and a government signaling a fundamental shift in welfare policy that would go on to reshape the benefits landscape for years to come. For disabled people, pensioners, and families with children, the statistics were not abstract numbers but reflections of daily reality: the gap between income and the cost of housing, food, and basic living. The welfare reforms announced in response to these figures, particularly Universal Credit, would become one of the most debated social policy changes in modern British history, with disability organizations and anti-poverty groups arguing that the reforms often deepened rather than relieved financial hardship for the most vulnerable. As a historical record, this data remains an important baseline for evaluating whether subsequent policy changes actually delivered on their stated goal of lifting people out of poverty - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by DWP and published on 2011/05/13, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.