Exploring the relationship between deep poverty and digital exclusion

Trussell Trust and Good Things Foundation commissioned WPI Economics to review the evidence base on the links between digital exclusion and deep poverty in the UK. (1)

Through an audit of 15 datasets, desk research, and expert interviews, WPI Economics asked:

• How, if at all, does digital exclusion drive people deeper into poverty, or trap people in deep poverty?
• What role does digital exclusion play in cutting off access to services, support, or opportunities to get on in life?
• What evidence gaps exist, and how might these be filled
• What do existing trends tell us about how this issue might develop in the future?

Deep poverty was defined using the Social Metrics Commission’s definition of individuals and families living 50% or more below the poverty line. (2)

Digital exclusion was defined with regard to affordability, access (devices, data), internet usage, digital skills and abilities, and motivation. (3)

The review found that digital exclusion is clearly related to income poverty and to risk factors of income poverty. 

• 2022: Fabian Society analysis of Ofcom data found that households with very low incomes (under £11,500 per year) were twice as likely to be without internet access. (4)
• 2023: Trussell Trust’s Hunger in the UK survey found that having no access at all to the internet was more prevalent amongst food bank users, at 16%, than the general population; 44% of those without any internet access and referred to food banks were severely socially isolated. (5)
• 2024: Minimum Digital Living Standard Survey of Households with Children found strong correlations between households below the publicly-defined benchmark (a holistic household measure of access and skills) and factors widely associated with child poverty. (6)

The main predictors of being below the Minimum Digital Living Standard for households with children are all associated with poverty: living in an area of deprivation; being a household in social grades C2DE; lone parent household; household with more than two children; household led by someone with nonwhite ethnicity, and/or a health impacting condition, and/or out of work, and/or receiving at least one low income-related state benefit.

Everyday access to the digital world is now the passport to essential services – from paying rent to finding a home, from getting a job to claiming Universal Credit. Digitalisation has transformed how we access school, employment, health care, banks, and information. Many forms of financial support (statutory and discretionary)are now digital-first.

Digitalisation brings significant benefits to many, but it also carries major risks to individuals and households who face one or more digital exclusion barriers. For example:

• People receiving Universal Credit may not always be able to afford a device or connectivity, putting them - and their children - at risk of sanctions, and of deep poverty; (12) 
• Universal Credit claimants were six times more likely to have stopped spending on broadband altogether in the last twelve months than those not in receipt of Universal Credit; (13)
• Many people who can’t afford to be online face a ‘poverty premium’ for goods and services; (14)
• People with the least digital capabilities are nine times more likely to struggle immediately following a financial shock than those with the highest digital capabilities (27% vs. 3%).(15)

Of the 4.1 million people living in deep poverty, 57% are living in persistent poverty (defined as a person or household currently living in poverty and having also lived in poverty for two of the last three years). This means 2.2 million people are living in both deep and persistent poverty. (16) Those most likely to experience persistent and deep poverty are people who are either unemployed or work part-time, and also parents – lone parents and couples with children.

Other groups likely to be at risk of deep poverty and digital exclusion are people seeking
asylum, Roma, Traveller and Gypsy groups; people experiencing homelessness, or those
with no recourse to public funds. (17)

For children, digital exclusion risks leading to worse educational outcomes, which in turn will increase their risks of living in poverty in adulthood.

“Without access to laptops, tablets, printers and the data and knowledge to use them, children can quickly fall behind with their work and the gap between what they and their peers can achieve grows ever wider… We must recognise that access to the internet is now an essential, not a luxury”

Source: APLE Collective (2023) Digital Divide Briefing Paper

Digital exclusion also impacts social isolation. Trussell Trust’s Hunger in the UK survey found that 44% of people without any internet access, and referred to food banks, reported being severely socially isolated. (22) Carnegie UK Trust research on digital and social participation found that 41% of people without internet access took part in none or only one ‘Active Living’ activity (sports, cultural, voluntary) compared to only 11% who had internet access; this was the biggest divergence among variables analysed. (23)

 “Not having the internet affects me enormously; from not being able to apply for jobs, to my social life and my mental health, because I feel very isolated”

Source: Citizens Advice (2023)

Drawing on the evidence, WPI Economics developed an initial map summarising the relational impacts, outcomes, and costs of digital exclusion and deep poverty. This can be developed through future work, and for different excluded groups (although there are unlikely to be material differences).

(24)

In deep poverty literature, digital exclusion is rarely considered as a dimension of significant analysis. (25)

In digital exclusion literature, there is a lack of robust estimates for how many digitally excluded people live in poverty, and in deep poverty.

While large-scale household surveys provide significant sample sizes and in-depth income information, they lack well-designed, consistent questions on digital exclusion and inclusion. Datasets which give rich insight into digital exclusion and inclusion either lack robust information on income and/or the smaller sample sizes make it difficult to look at intersectionality.

While all the evidence points to overlaps between deep poverty and digital exclusion, a lack of quantitative and qualitative data makes it challenging todetermine if any relationship exists.

Sources:

1. WPI Economics for Trussell Trust and Good Things Foundation (2024) Exploring the relationship between deep poverty and digital exclusion in the UK https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/policy-and-research/research-and-evidence/research-2024/deep-poverty-and-digital-exclusion

2. Social Metrics Commission (2024) Measuring Poverty 2024

3. House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee (2023) Digital exclusion and the cost of living

4. Fabian Society (2022) Bridging the divide: tackling digital inequality in a post-pandemic world

5. Trussell Trust (2023) Hunger in the UK 2023

6. Minimum Digital Living Standard (2024) A Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children: Overall Findings

7. Lloyds Bank (2024) 2024 UK Consumer Digital Index. See: https://www.lloydsbank.com/assets/media/pdfs/banking_with_us/whats-happening/lb-consumer-digital-index-2024-report.pdf

8. Ofcom (2024) Communications Affordability Tracker. See: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/saving-money/affordability-tracker

9. Fabian Society (2022) Bridging the divide: tackling digital inequality in a post-pandemic world. See: https://fabians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Bridging-the-Divide-web-file-Fabian-Society.pdf

10. Trussell Trust (2023) Hunger in the UK 2023. See: https://www.trusselltrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/2023-The-Trussell-Trust-Hunger-in-the-UK-report-web-updated-10Aug23.pdf

11. Social Metrics Commission (2024) Measuring Poverty 2024. See: https://socialmetricscommission.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/SMC-2024-Report-Web-Hi-Res.pdf

12. Child Poverty Action Group (2023) You reap what you code: Universal credit, digitalisation and the rule of law

13. Citizens Advice (2023) One million lose broadband access as cost-of-living crisis bites

14. Centre for Social Justice (2023) Left Out: How to tackle digital exclusion and reduce the poverty premium

15. Lloyds Bank (2024)

16. Social Metrics Commission (2024) Measuring Poverty 2024

17. Good Things Foundation (2024 updated) Mitigating risks of digital exclusion in health systems

18. House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee (2023) Digital exclusion and the cost of living. See: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/40662/documents/198365/default/

19. DWP & Government Social Research (2024) Digital Skills, Channel Preferences and Access Needs of DWP Customers. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65eee72a3649a23451ed6335/digital-skills-dwp-customers-10-benefits.pdf

20. Massimo Ragnedda, Maria Laura Ruiu and Felice Addeo (2022) The self-reinforcing effect of digital and social exclusion: The inequality loop. See: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585322000855

21. Citizens Advice (2023) One million lose broadband access as cost-of-living crisis bites. See: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/one-million-lose-broadband-access-as-cost-of-living-crisis-bites/

22. Trussell Trust (2023) Hunger in the UK 2023

23. Carnegie UK (2016) The role of digital exclusion in social exclusion

24. WPI Economics for Trussell Trust and Good Things Foundation (2024) Exploring the relationship between deep poverty and digital exclusion in the UK. https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/policy-and-research/research-and-evidence/research-2024/deep-poverty-and-digital-exclusion

25. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2023) Destitution in the UK 2023