People are defined as experiencing enforced deprivation if they live in a household that cannot afford two or more of the 11 basic deprivation items that are considered to be the norm for other households in society, such as being unable to afford to get-together with family or friends for a drink or meal once a month or being unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm.

Key findings:

• The percentage of people living in enforced deprivation decreased from 17.3% in 2023 to 15.7% in 2024.
• The groups most likely to experience enforced deprivation in 2024 were those living in single-adult households with children under 18 (46.3%); unable to work due to long-standing health problems (38.5%); unemployed (37.8%); and those living in rented or rent-free accommodation (31.5%).
• The percentage of people unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm dropped from 7.2% in 2023 to 4.9% in 2024.
• The percentage of people who were unable to afford new (not second-hand clothes) went down from 8.1% in 2023 to 6.2% in 2024.
• Just over half (51.7%) of households had adequate savings to maintain the same standard of living for at least three months.
• The percentage of households in 2024 that regarded housing costs as a heavy financial burden was down on the 2023 rate (29.5% and 30.6% respectively).
• Analysis by tenure status shows that 10.7% of rented households had great difficulty in making ends meet in 2024 compared with 3.2% of owner-occupied households.

[See also, Well-being - Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2024, March 2025]