After Covid: How Clothing Poverty Fed the UK Cost-of-Living Crisis

By Zöe Rucker

This article is an evidence-led account of clothing poverty after Covid-19, and how it became part of the cost-of-living crisis rather than a separate issue.

Clothing poverty in the UK did not end when restrictions lifted. People continued to go without essential items, including clothing.. What changed was how that need was experienced. During lockdowns, clothing access was disrupted. After Covid-19, the issue became affordability. Households emerged from the pandemic with reduced financial resilience, and when costs rose, clothing budgets did not recover.

By 2022, many households were already relying more heavily on second-hand clothing and charitable provision¹. That reliance did not sit outside the cost-of-living crisis. It became part of how it was managed day to day. The clearest indication that the post-Covid period did not bring recovery is the rise in severe material hardship. This is defined in UK research as being unable to afford basic physical needs such as food, heating and clothing¹.

In 2022, around 3.8 million people, including around 1 million children, were living in these conditions².This was a marked increase compared with earlier years, despite temporary support introduced during the pandemic and extended into the cost-of-living period².

Clothing sits directly within this measure. The same research shows that people are going without clothing alongside other essentials³. In one subgroup with complex needs, 77% reported lacking adequate clothing in the previous month³. This is not occasional shortfall. It is sustained absence of basic items.

The cost-of-living crisis overlapped with the post-Covid period

The financial pressure that defines the cost-of-living crisis began while households were still recovering from the pandemic.

Inflation reached 11.1%  in October 2022⁴. Energy costs drove much of that increase, with the annual price cap reaching £4,279 for a typical household in early 2023⁵. For lower-income households, where energy takes up a larger share of spending, these increases had a greater effect⁶.

The effect on clothing is indirect but clear. As essential costs rise, the space for other spending reduces. Evidence around living standards shows that real household disposable income fell during this period⁷. That reduction does not fall evenly across all areas of spending. It concentrates on items that can be delayed.

Clothing is one of those items. Purchases can be postponed, stretched or substituted. But they cannot be removed entirely. When this pattern repeats across months and seasons, gaps appear .

School shoes are worn beyond fit. Coats are kept for another winter. Parents delay replacing clothing for themselves to prioritise children. Uniform items are bought individually over time rather than all at once. Clothing starts to be managed around immediate necessity rather than adequacy⁸.

Second-hand provision moved from support to system

Clothing access after Covid-19 is not only about prices in shops. It is about where clothing comes from when retail is no longer affordable.

School uniform makes this visible. It is required, time-specific and publicly enforced.

Government data shows the cost of uniform and how families meet it⁹. Survey evidence shows that parents continue to report difficulty affording these costs, alongside support for limiting the number of required branded items¹⁰. Lower-income households are more likely to reduce those items where possible¹⁰.

Where that is not possible, demand shifts elsewhere. Evidence from uniform provision shows increased demand for second-hand clothing during the cost-of-living period¹¹. In some cases, provision reported that demand doubled¹¹.

This is not a marginal adjustment. It reflects a shift in how clothing needs are met. Second-hand and charitable routes are not filling occasional gaps. They are being used as a primary source.

Pressure that repeats, not resolves

During lockdowns, clothing access was interrupted. After Covid-19, the pressure returns repeatedly.

It appears in winter, when coats compete with heating costs. It appears at the start of each school term, when uniform must be replaced. It appears when people move into work or need to present differently.

Lower-cost clothing often does not last as long. This increases how often it needs to be replaced, bringing forward the next point of pressure.

The evidence on severe hardship shows that people are going without clothing as part of a wider pattern of unmet basic needs³. This places clothing within a cycle rather than a one-off problem.

Clothing poverty within the cost-of-living crisis

Public discussion of the cost-of-living crisis often focuses on food and energy. Those pressures are measurable and immediate.

Food bank use provides one indicator. In 2023 to 2024, 3.12 million emergency food parcels were distributed, including over 1.14 million for children¹². This shows that some households cannot meet basic needs through income alone.

Clothing does not have the same measurement system. But it sits within the same financial conditions. Inflation data shows how clothing and footwear prices move within the wider cost environment¹³.

Clothing poverty did not sit alongside the cost-of-living crisis. It formed part of how that crisis was experienced, particularly for children required to attend school in specific clothing.

Conclusion

After Covid-19, clothing poverty in the UK became tied to the same pressures affecting other essentials. Evidence shows sustained levels of severe hardship, including a lack of clothing³. Rising essential costs and reduced household income limit the ability to maintain clothing provision⁶.

In response, households rely more heavily on second-hand and charitable routes¹¹. That reliance reflects a shift in how clothing needs are met under financial pressure.

Clothing is required for participation in school, work and daily life. The evidence shows that access to it is led by the same conditions driving the cost-of-living crisis.

References:

1. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Destitution in the UK 2023. Overview findings including definition and prevalence of severe material hardship, 2023.

2.     Fitzpatrick, S. et al. Destitution in the UK 2023. Detailed findings on 2022 totals and trends in severe hardship, 2023.

3.     Fitzpatrick, S. et al. Destitution in the UK 2023. Analysis of essentials lacked, including clothing, heating and subgroup data, 2023.

4.     Office for National Statistics. Consumer price inflation, UK: October 2022. CPI reached 11.1 per cent in October 2022, 2022.

5.     Ofgem. Energy price cap levels, Jan–Mar 2023. Typical household annual energy price cap level, 2023.

6.     Institute for Fiscal Studies. The cost of living crisis: a pre-Budget briefing. Analysis of the impact of rising energy and living costs on lower-income households, 2022.

7.     Resolution Foundation. Living standards outlook, 2023. Analysis of falling real household disposable income during the cost-of-living crisis, 2023.

8.     Child Poverty Action Group. Cost of Living and Families’ Spending Decisions. Evidence on low-income households delaying or reducing spending on clothing and other essentials during the cost-of-living crisis, 2022–2023.

9.     Department for Education. Cost of school uniform survey 2023. Survey data on school uniform costs and household purchasing patterns, published 2024.

10.  The Children’s Society. School uniform costs briefing. Survey findings on affordability pressures and support for limiting branded school uniform items, 2025.

11.  Salvation Army. Uniform bank demand reporting. Evidence of increased demand for second-hand school uniform during the cost-of-living crisis, 2023.

12.  Trussell. Emergency food parcel distribution 2023–24. Annual food parcel distribution statistics, including parcels provided for children, 2024.

13.  Office for National Statistics. CPI time series: clothing and footwear. Inflation trends and contribution of clothing and footwear to consumer price indices.