Poverty can affect every part of your life.
At its most basic level, it means not having enough money to get by. It can mean making impossible decisions, like having to choose between eating and heating your home.
It can mean going without even the most basic amenities. It can mean feeling unable to participate in society.
The wide-reaching impacts of poverty
The effects of poverty can reach into just about every aspect of your life – damaging your life chances, your wellbeing, and even your physical health. In this section we bring together just a few indicators to illustrate this wide-reaching impact.
Health inequalities
Poverty can significantly impact your health. This chart shows healthy life expectancy by London borough.
We can see that there is a huge range in how long a Londoner can expect to live a healthy life – and generally, boroughs with higher levels of poverty have lower healthy life expectancy.
For example a woman born in Richmond – which has a below average level of poverty compared to the rest of London – can expect to live in good health to the age of 70. This is 11 years longer than a woman in Tower Hamlets, which has an above average level of poverty.
Healthy life expectancy at birth by borough for men and women (2021-2023)
The attainment gap
Living in poverty can affect your life chances. This chart shows the attainment gap – which means how many more students who weren’t disadvantaged gained Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to A Levels) than those who were disadvantaged.
The attainment gap is smaller in London than the rest of England, suggesting that London’s education system goes some way to reducing inequalities. But it is still present – especially in Outer London. This can have knock-on effects for a person’s employment prospects, entrenching a cycle of poverty.
Level 3 attainment gap between Free School Meals and non-Free School Meals students at 19 years-of-age (2007/08-2023/24)
The impacts of poverty are far-reaching
Poverty has far-reaching impacts into people’s lives. For example, this chart shows that there are significantly more crimes recorded in the most deprived areas compared to the least.
Crimes recorded by neighbourhood income deprivation decile in London (2024)
Using data isn't the best way to illustrate what life is really like for people living in povery. We recommend these resources for further reading:
- Growing up in a low-income family: Children’s experiences (Children's Commissioner for England)
- The effects of child poverty (CPAG)
- What it’s like to grow up in poverty (Barnardos)
- Changing Realities – documenting life on a low income