Majority of Brits disapprove of Labour's approach to tackling poverty, Big Issue polling finds

Keir Starmer’s Labour government has been in power for 10 months – but its promise of change is not convincing voters when it comes to poverty.

YouGov’s exclusive poll for Big Issue has found that 72% of all Brits disapprove of Labour’s current approach to poverty in the UK. 

It’s a record that is breeding discontent. Public disapproval of the government’s approach to poverty has risen by 18% just over six months after YouGov last asked the public for their thoughts on the issue. Back in September 2024, only 54% of Brits felt the government wasn’t doing enough for people in poverty. 

That’s off the back of a year in which ministers have faced criticism over cuts to the winter fuel payment, pushing an estimated 50,000 pensioners into poverty over the year, according to the government’s own estimates. 

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Labour has continued with the two-child benefit cap – despite claims it would lift 350,000 children out of poverty overnight if scrapped – and ploughed on with plans for benefit cuts that could push around 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into difficulties. 

It’s a shift that risks driving Labour’s voter base elsewhere. The party’s recent drubbing in local elections saw them lose two-thirds of the seats they contested as well as surrendering the Runcorn and Helsby by-election to Reform UK by six votes, albeit losing a 14,000-strong majority. Reform UK were the main beneficiaries of Labour’s woes, picking up 10 councils, two mayors and the Runcorn vote.

YouGov polling found 68% of Brits who say they support Reform UK believe the government should be doing more to tackle poverty in the UK.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the 2,123 Brits (44%) YouGov quizzed for us said they would struggle to pay for basic necessities within a month of losing their income unexpectedly. That figure rises to 48% for adults under 50.

The research reveals sweeping regional differences in the precariousness of people’s personal financial situation across the UK.

More than half (54%) of people in Wales and 49% of Londoners saying they’d be unable to pay for these necessities within the month of suddenly having their income taken away, compared to 42% in the rest of the South of England and 41% in Scotland.

A census of Big Issue’s UK vendor network revealed that more than two-thirds (68%) of its magazine sellers are worried about affording their basic necessities.

That’s why Big Issue is taking action to support people living in poverty.

We are campaigning for a wider ‘Poverty Zero’ law to force ministers to take action on reducing poverty and hold them accountable.

Similar to net zero targets, each government would need to set statutory poverty reduction targets which they would become legally accountable to when they assume office.

Big Issue founder and crossbench peer Lord Bird has submitted a new amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill at the legislation’s committee stage in the House of Lords.

The amendment, which has been supported by the National Children’s Bureau, is calling for legally binding child poverty reduction targets to be set.

Big Issue is also taking action to lift people out of poverty across the UK.

Our newly published 2024 Group Impact Report showed that Big Issue Group has now met its ambitious five-year goal of engaging 11 million people by the end of 2026, two years ahead of schedule – engaging 11.6 million in 2024.

This has been achieved through our award-winning journalism, an uptick in campaigning activity, and by supporting more people directly through the group’s social businesses.

Our Impact Report also found:

• Big Issue vendors collectively earned more than £3.9 million through selling the magazine in 2024
• 1.8 million copies of Big Issue magazine were sold in 2024
• 3,700 individuals have been supported by Big Issue Group services with 53 helped into new employment opportunities
• There were 9.5 million unique users on bigissue.com in 2024
• Big Issue Invest, Big Issue’s social investment arm, invested £2.7m in 13 social purpose organisations, expanding their portfiolio to 145 businesses
• Big Issue Invest-backed businesses supported a combined 1.8 million Brits in 2024, representing a 20% growth from 2023
• Big Issue Recruit job coaches delivered more than 1,677 hours of training in total

Paul Cheal, CEO of Big Issue Group, said: “Poverty is a problem that touches everybody. The issues it throws up are already destabilising our wider society, from the growing welfare bill to our overburdened public services. And as our new poll shows, more people than ever are close to the brink.

“Across all areas of Big Issue Group, we’re working to end poverty. Whether it’s with our vendors out earning on the streets, with the candidates engaging with us to find work, with people being supported by the innovative organisations we’re investing in, or with the readers of our groundbreaking journalism – Big Issue is using all the resources at our disposal to do our bit in the fight against poverty and inequality.” 

Read our Impact Report at bigissue.com/big-issue-group-impact.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.