Analysis and action on living standards
The 13 million working-age families across the poorer half of the country are widely courted by politicians. No party can win elections without their votes, and the country cannot succeed without their needs being met. They are working harder and caring more, yet remain poorly understood and badly served, which is why we have dubbed them ‘Unsung Britain’.
In this book we examine the evolving characteristics of these families – how they earn, save, spend and how they’ve responded to cost of living challenges. We delve into the rent and bills they pay, the excess inflation they’ve faced as well as the strains on their health, both mental and physical.
A better understanding of the circumstances, opportunities and challenges of the families of Unsung Britain is needed to turn their fortunes around, regain their trust, and make the country a better place to live in.
A portrait of the country's poorer half
The 13 million working-age families across the poorest half of the country, who at various times have been dubbed the ‘squeezed middle’, ‘just about managing families’ and ‘alarm clock Britain’ are widely courted by politicians of all persuasions. No party
The 13 million working-age families across the poorer half of the country are widely courted by politicians. No party can win elections without their votes, and the country cannot succeed without their needs being met. They are working harder and caring more, yet remain poorly understood and
The 20-64-year-old employment rate for people in lower-income families rose by 11 percentage points over the last 30 years. This contribution fully accounts for the total rise in UK employment.
Read more in our new book Unsung Britain: A portrait of the country’s poorer half.
In 1994-95, three-in-ten families in Unsung Britain had a mortgage. But by 2023-24, renting privately was the most common tenure (29 per cent), with the proportion living with parents (15 per cent) almost as high as the share of mortgaged families (17 per cent).
Between December 2019 and September 2025, annualised inflation experienced by the poorest families ran at a rate that was 0.7 percentage points faster than for the richest families. The cumulative effect of this has been to drag down incomes for the very lowest income relative to those at the top by more than 3 per cent.
Average gross annual household earnings for families in Unsung Britain have increased by £7,700 since the mid-1990s to £18,000 today – but nearly three-quarters of that increase took place before 2004-05. This petering out of earnings growth explains all of the slowdown in living standards growth since the mid-2000s.
The latest data shows one million people in lower-income families have unpaid caring responsibilities that amount to at least the equivalent of a full-time job.
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