Persistent poverty is defined as when a household experiences relatively low income both in the current year and at least two out of the three preceding years.

In the UK in 2017, 7.8% of the population was estimated to be experiencing persistent relative poverty. The definition of relative poverty used is when people live in a household with a disposable income that falls below 60% of the national median in the current year.

The UK has had a relatively stable rate of persistent poverty over the last ten years helped by a record level of employment and the lowest unemployment rate for over 45 years. But there are deep concerns about the scale of in-work poverty in the UK, i.e. when people are in households with at least one person in work but who remain in relative poverty. According to recent data published by the European Union, poverty in the UK tends to be more temporary compared with other European countries.