New research published today shows that 90,000 people die in poverty in the UK each year.

The report published by end-of-life charity Marie Curie, based on research carried out by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, revealed that the situation is particularly bleak for people of working age who are in the last 12 months of life, with more than 1 in 4 (28%) of this group dying in poverty. This makes those who die at working age more than twice as likely to die in poverty than compared to those who live past pension age. The risk rises steeply for parents with dependent children, with two out of three facing poverty toward the end of their lives if they die before retirement age.

Marie Curie’s report, Dying in Poverty: Examining poverty at the end of life in the UK, also shows how women and people from minority ethnic groups are particularly vulnerable to poverty at the end of life.

Key findings include:

  • 90,000 people die in poverty in the UK every year
  • Working age people twice as likely to die below the poverty line as pensioners
  • Parents with dependent children particularly at risk
  • Wales, London and Birmingham among areas worst affected
  • Charity Marie Curie has launched campaign to give dying people with terminal illness early access to their State Pension at the end of life


Stone, J. and Hirsch, D. (2022) Poverty at the end of life in the UK. London: Marie Curie