Poverty at the end of life Understanding the number of people who die in poverty

In 2021 End-of-Life charity Marie Curie commissioned CRSP to examine the number of people who die in poverty in the UK each year and how the risk of being in poverty at the end of life varies for different groups of the population. The analysis was subsequently updated to 2023, revealing a sharp increase in the number and proportion of people dying in poverty in the UK.

  • Around 111,000 people a year experience poverty during the last year of their lives, using the Social Metrics Commission’s definition of poverty – an increase from 93,000 in 2019.
  • For people dying aged 20-64, the risk of being in poverty is 28% in the last year of life, compared to 22% for others of this age – an increase of more than a quarter.
  • For people dying after age 65, the difference is smaller: 16% compared to 13%, an increase of 16%. However, they have seen a bigger increase in their risk of poverty since 2019 than people of working age.
  • The majority of people who die aged 20-64 and about a quarter of people who die over pension age have experienced poverty at some point in the previous five years.
  • Only 6% of people dying fell into poverty in the last year or two years of their life. However, 13% of working age parents who die have recently fallen into poverty.

Reports

Stone, J. (2024) Poverty at the end of life in 2023. London: Marie Curie
Stone, J. (2023) Policy interventions to alleviate poverty at the end of life. London: Marie Curie
Stone, J. and Hirsch, D. (2022) Poverty at the end of life in the UK. London: Marie Curie

Data

Poverty at the end of life local authority estimates 2023
Excel spreadsheet with estimates of the number and proportion of people in poverty at the end of life broken down by local authority and age group.