Why Anyone Could Be in Clothing Poverty

By Zöe Rucker

Who experiences clothing poverty?

The immediate picture might be someone who has been poor for a long time. Someone unemployed, homeless or already receiving support. Someone whose need appears obvious.

The evidence offers a more complicated picture.

It also comes with an important limitation. UK poverty research rarely measures clothing deprivation as a standalone condition. Clothing is recognised as essential within minimum living standards and other poverty research, but it is generally measured alongside other necessities, making it difficult to establish who experiences clothing poverty or how it develops¹.

That makes documented lives especially important.

How do people end up in clothing poverty?

The strongest evidence suggests that clothing poverty begins when an ordinary clothing need arises in a household with no remaining capacity to absorb it⁷.

CPAG documents the experience of Hannah, a mother of three whose Universal Credit income “just about” covered the basics. When her washing machine broke, one of her children’s eczema meant clothes and bedding needed frequent washing. Repairing the machine was impossible. Using a laundrette cost more than washing at home, but those additional costs would have made it harder to save for a replacement.

What began as a broken appliance became a problem of keeping essential clothing clean and wearable⁴.

Turn2us records another parent describing how buying children’s shoes or clothes meant taking money from the food budget. The clothes were needed. The food was needed. The household no longer had enough capacity to absorb both⁵.

StepChange documents a similar pattern. After cutting back on outings, meals out, and other spending, one mother described how her son still needed new shoes and clothes, even though the family could no longer afford to buy anything else new. The clothing need already existed. Other spending had already been removed⁶.

Research on the Minimum Income Standard explains why these accounts recur. Clothing is treated not as an optional purchase but as part of the goods required for a minimum acceptable standard of living, with household budgets allowing for clothing to be maintained and replaced over time⁷.

Does employment prevent clothing poverty?

Employment reduces the risk of poverty. The evidence, however, does not support the conclusion that it always prevents clothing poverty⁸.

Charities including Smart Works, Dress for Success Greater London and Suited & Booted exist because suitable clothing can be a barrier to entering the workforce. They provide interview outfits and workwear to people seeking employment. Smart Works also offers clients who secure a job a further working wardrobe to support them until their first pay cheque⁹.

Action for Children found that care-experienced young people, particularly care leavers, were more likely than their peers to report having limited or no access to work-appropriate clothing for interviews and starting work¹².

These organisations demonstrate that employment and clothing adequacy are not always the same thing.

Evidence on in-work poverty reaches a similar conclusion. Paid work does not always provide enough financial resilience to meet every essential cost, particularly where wages are low, hours are limited or employment is insecure⁸.

Can clothing poverty happen overnight?

The clearest evidence comes from women leaving domestic abuse.

Women’s Aid’s Flee Fund provides emergency payments towards clothing, groceries, transport and temporary accommodation for survivors leaving abusive relationships. Refuge reports women and children arriving with very little, sometimes wearing only the clothes they left in¹³.

Here, the clothing remains in a home that is no longer safe to enter.

Evidence from domestic abuse services reveals something that income statistics cannot. A person can lose access to an adequate wardrobe in a single day despite having owned one the day before¹³.

Practitioners describe similar clothing needs among newly arrived refugees and people seeking asylum, some of whom arrive with little luggage or without clean, warm clothing suitable for the British climate. Emergency clothing schemes provide coats, shoes and everyday outfits among the first practical items people need¹⁵.

Accounts from people leaving prison describe individuals released with a small discharge grant, little or no clothing and immediate costs such as travel to probation appointments¹⁷.

Can having clothes still mean having nothing to wear?

Age UK's research includes one person receiving Attendance Allowance who needed specialist shoes and another who required additional clothing because of a stoma. These were everyday clothing costs created by changes in health¹⁸.

Mencap found that some people with learning disabilities needed to replace clothes and shoes more frequently because garments wore out differently, became damaged more easily, or required replacement after staining or soiling¹⁹.

A Loughborough University study funded by Family Fund found that families raising autistic children often faced higher clothing costs because sensory and physical needs affected which garments could be worn, how frequently they needed washing and how often they required replacement²⁰.

Ambitious about Autism similarly describes clothing as a practical sensory need rather than simply a matter of preference²¹.

Illness, surgery, disability or medical equipment may make previously suitable clothing unusable. Feeding tubes, stomas, swelling, reduced dexterity, mobility aids and specialist footwear can all require different garments or features. Evidence on adaptive clothing suggests that availability is improving, but suitable clothing remains inconsistent in standard high-street ranges²².

Evidence also highlights barriers beyond the wardrobe itself. Research with disabled shoppers describes inaccessible shop layouts and changing rooms, limited assistance and physical access barriers that make shopping tiring or prevent people from shopping independently.

Other studies found disabled shoppers struggling with inaccessible websites, inadequate product descriptions and clothing that could not be confidently selected or used without assistance²⁴. In these circumstances, clothing may exist and people may know exactly what they need, yet obtaining it remains difficult.

Adequate clothing depends not only on what is owned, but on whether clothing remains wearable, practical, obtainable and affordable to replace²².

Who experiences clothing poverty?

This investigation began with a simple question.

The evidence reveals that clothing poverty is shaped by circumstances rather than by a person's background or identity. It develops when clothing becomes unaffordable, inaccessible or no longer fit for purpose⁷.

References:

1. Department for Work and Pensions. Review of the UK Material Deprivation Measures. Review of how clothing and other necessities are represented within the UK’s official material-deprivation measures. UK Government, 2024.

2. Poverty and Social Exclusion UK. Falling Below Minimum Standards. Findings on clothing necessities for adults and children, including coats, footwear and appropriate clothing for job interviews. PSE UK, 2013.

3. Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University. The Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom. Research establishing the goods and services required for a minimum acceptable standard of living, including clothing. Loughborough University.

4. Child Poverty Action Group. Reforming Emergency Support to Reduce Demand for Food Banks. Hannah’s account of living on Universal Credit after her washing machine broke, while managing the additional laundry required by her child’s eczema. CPAG, 2018.

5. Turn2us. All Kids Count: The Impact of the Two-Child Limit After Two Years. Testimony from a parent unable to purchase children’s shoes or clothing without taking money from the household food budget. Turn2us, 2019.

6. StepChange Debt Charity. Making Ends Meet: Insights from StepChange Advice Clients. Qualitative accounts of constrained household budgets, including a mother unable to make ordinary purchases while her son continued to need new clothing and shoes. StepChange, 2022.

7. Stone, Juliet, and Matt Padley. A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2025. Detailed minimum household budgets incorporating clothing and footwear as recurring costs across different life stages. Centre for Research in Social Policy and Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2025.

8. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Work and Poverty. Evidence that employment lowers poverty risk but does not guarantee protection where incomes are low, working hours are limited or employment is insecure. JRF, 2026.

9. Smart Works. Our Service. Information on the provision of interview clothing and a second working wardrobe for clients who secure employment. Smart Works. 

10. Dress for Success Greater London. Our Programmes. Information on clothing and employability support provided to women seeking work. Dress for Success Greater London.

11. Suited & Booted. About Us. Information on suitable interview clothing and employment support for vulnerable, unemployed and low-income men. Suited & Booted.

12. Action for Children. Employability of Care-Experienced Young People. Research finding that care-experienced young people and care leavers face limited access to work-appropriate clothing for interviews and starting employment. Action for Children, 2026.

13. Women’s Aid. Flexible Fund: Flee Fund. Details of emergency payments covering clothing, groceries, transport, accommodation and other immediate costs faced by survivors escaping domestic abuse. Women’s Aid.

14. Refuge. Our Refuges. Information on women arriving at refuges with very few possessions or nothing, together with Refuge’s provision of basic supplies. Refuge. Refuge. Give a Child and Their Mum Their First Christmas of Freedom. Accessible account of women and children arriving at refuges with only the clothes they were wearing. Refuge, 2025.

15. Refugee Council. Lives on Hold: Experiences of People Living in Hotel Asylum Accommodation. Research recommending that people seeking asylum be provided with essential clothing, including coats and shoes. Refugee Council, 2022.

16. The Separated Child Foundation. Arrival Packs. Information on refugee children arriving in the UK without access to clean and warm clothing and the provision of clothing, waterproof jackets, underwear and other essentials. The Separated Child Foundation, 2026.

17. Criminal Justice Alliance. The Prison Leavers Struggling to Survive in Lockdown. Documented accounts of people leaving prison with a discharge grant, only the clothing they were wearing and immediate probation and accommodation costs. Criminal Justice Alliance, 2020.

18. Age UK. Attendance Allowance: A Survey of Claimants and the Impact of Potential Reforms. Testimony concerning specialist shoes and additional clothing required because of a stoma, alongside wider evidence of additional clothing and footwear costs caused by disability. Age UK, 2016.

19. Cordis Bright and Mencap. Research Study on the Additional Costs of Living with a Learning Disability. Qualitative evidence on specialist footwear, uneven wear, frequent clothing replacement, sensory needs, damage, incontinence and additional laundry costs. Mencap, 2025.

20. Hill, Katherine, and Centre for Research in Social Policy. “My Kids Need What They Need”: Additional Family Costs for Meeting the Everyday Needs of Children on the Autism Spectrum. Research with families on sensory requirements, fabric choice, frequent washing, wear and tear and higher clothing replacement costs. Family Fund and Loughborough University, 2023.

21. Ambitious about Autism. More Than Just Clothes. Evidence and lived experience concerning clothing as a source of sensory regulation and the practical importance of accommodating autistic people’s clothing needs. Ambitious about Autism and Vanish, 2024.

22. Research Institute for Disabled Consumers. Primark: Bringing Accessible Clothing to the High Street. Research with more than 800 disabled consumers on the difficulty of finding comfortable and suitable clothing and the need for accessible clothing design. RiDC, 2025.

23. Primark. Adaptive Clothing Collection. High-street adaptive garments incorporating magnetic fastenings, seated designs and access for stomas, insulin pumps and other medical equipment. Primark, 2025. The Guardian. Primark Launches Clothing Range Designed for People with Disabilities. Accessible overview of the collection and the continuing scarcity and cost of adaptive clothing on the UK high street. The Guardian, 2025.

24. Disability Unit. Accessibility of Private-Sector Products and Services for Disabled People in the UK. Government-commissioned research identifying inaccessible layouts, insufficient assistance and social barriers within retail services. UK Government, 2025.

25. Alluqmani, Amnah, Morgan Harvey and Ziqi Zhang. The Barriers to Online Clothing Websites for Visually Impaired People: An Interview and Observation Approach to Understanding Needs. Research identifying inaccurate or inadequate descriptions and other barriers preventing independent online clothes shopping. University of Sheffield and Newcastle University, 2023.