The Department for Work and Pensions define an individual as in persistent poverty if he or she is in relative income poverty in at least 3 out of 4 consecutive years.

1. Persistent Poverty
Financial years 2014 to 2018

2. Persistent poverty (experimental statistics)
• The Department for Work and Pensions define an individual as in persistent
poverty if he or she is in relative income poverty in at least 3 out of 4
consecutive years.
• After paying housing costs, an individual in Wales had a 13 per cent chance
of being in persistent poverty between 2014 and 2018.
• The chance of being in persistent poverty was also 13 per cent in England
and Scotland. In Northern Ireland the chance of being in persistent poverty
was 11 per cent.

3. Children and pensioners in persistent poverty
(experimental statistics)
Children
• A child in Wales had a 19 per cent chance of being in persistent poverty
between 2014 and 2018 (after housing costs were paid). This figure has
dropped from 21 per cent seen in the previous four time periods.
• The figure for Wales was lower than for England (20 per cent), but higher
than in Scotland and Northern Ireland, both with a reported figure of 17 per
cent.
Pensioners
• A pensioner in Wales between 2014 and 2018 had a 11 per cent chance
of being in persistent poverty (after housing costs were paid).
• This is lower than the chance in Scotland (12 per cent), the same as that
seen in England (11 per cent) and higher than the chance in Northern
Ireland (5 per cent).