Last year there was a record number of people living in extreme poverty in Britain, but - 3.8 million people were living in destitution, that is, unable to stay warm, dry, clean and fed every day. The number has more than doubled in 5 years. A million children are affected.

    This is according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Yes, counting the number of poor relies on a charitable organisation, since the government wouldn't undertake to stare its own appalling record in the face.

    In fact Newham in London has the highest proportion of destitute, with Manchester and Middlesbrough coming 2nd and 3rd: people forced out of their homes and onto the street into homelessness, because they just can't afford their bills. It's the "cost of living crisis" says the Trust, low incomes, rising prices of essentials and high levels of debt. In fact, it's a situation reminiscent of Victorian times: almost two-thirds of people who experienced destitution in 2022 have a disability or a chronic health problem.

    And the context is a welfare system stripped to its bare bones by successive governments. Over half of these destitute households have a weekly benefit income of less than £85 a week. But over a quarter (28%) are not getting any welfare payments at all!

    The government says it's helping by tackling inflation, raising the minimum wage and "helping people into work"... But today, unemployment is rising again.

    The Joseph Rowntree Trust argues that there's a lot more that governments can do - like increase welfare benefits. And that's very true. But it won't change the fundamentals - a capitalist system which relies on a reserve army of unemployed precisely to keep its costs at a minimum and its profits at a maximum: meaning that poverty won't end until capitalism is ended.