Impoverished: How to fix Britain's poverty problem

by Joanna Mack

Almost a third of children in Britain today live in poverty. Levels of deprivation in the UK are now higher than at any point in recent history. But how did we get here – and what can be done to turn the tide?


In Impoverished, Joanna Mack traces the roots of Britain's poverty crisis to decades of political choices that have left millions unable to withstand the turmoil of the 2020s.Drawing on four decades of pioneering research, Mack offers a clear-eyed analysis of how Britain’s social contract has been undermined – and what it will take to rebuild it. She sets out bold, practical strategies to create a fairer society, alongside pro-poor policies to protect the most vulnerable from the impacts of climate change. Urgent, evidence-based and forward-looking, Impoverished is a blueprint for renewal.

390 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2026

Reviews

[Elena Jones]

Joanna Mack’s Impoverished: How to fix Britain's poverty problem is a devastatingly thorough and essential investigation into the root causes of the UK's deepening deprivation crisis. Spanning 390 pages, Mack draws upon four decades of pioneering research to expose how decades of deliberate political choices have left nearly a third of British children and millions of families wholly unequipped to weather modern economic turmoil.

What makes this book extraordinary is its refusal to treat poverty as an inevitable natural disaster. Instead, Mack meticulously traces how the nation's social contract has been systematically dismantled, while offering bold, practical, and evidence-based solutions to turn the tide. Crucially, she looks forward to the future by integrating pro-poor policies designed to shield the most vulnerable from the escalating impacts of climate change. Urgent, authoritative, and deeply humane, Impoverished is a masterclass in policy analysis and an indispensable roadmap for national renewal.

[Lucy Lewis]

Dipped in and out of this, was an interesting read. Glad I got to hear Joanna Mack speak about it, and I’ll temper her key points. Here’s some comments I wrote on LinkedIn about the talk & book:

A few reflections from the conversation and from reading the book over the past couple of weeks have really stayed with me:

1. Far from just a socio-economic issue, poverty reflects how political systems are designed and the choices that are made.

2. Pro‑child policies and approaches are central to lifting children out of poverty - with universality, a principle very close to my own work at the British Red Cross, playing a key role.

3. Affordable, secure housing is fundamental to people’s stability and dignity, and essential to addressing poverty and destitution.

Grateful for conversations like this - challenging how we frame “the problem” and pushing us to look more deeply into evidence, lived experience, and what real change requires.