This page includes a dashboard which summarises various statistics such as children in low income families, households on Universal Credit with children, and Free School Meal eligibility in Surrey. This dashboard was created by the Population Insight Team at Surrey County Council to provide a Surrey level summary and the ability for you to select your desired area (District and Borough, Ward, or LSOA) for a more focused summary.
This Tableau dashboard is also available on Tableau Public. If this dashboard does not fit your needs, let us know by emailing [email protected] and we will see if we can help you.
Highlights:
(June 2025 update)
Children in absolute low income
(next update est. June 2026)
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As of 2023/24, just fewer than 1 in every 10 Surrey children were living in absolute low income households (previously referred to as 'children in poverty'). This represents 22,982 children in Surrey.
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The proportion of children in low income households is lower in Surrey (9.8%) than in the South East (15.4%) and England (23.8%).
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Child poverty exists in Surrey in both working and non-working households. Almost 7 in every 10 children who live in absolute low income households have at least one adult in the household who is in employment.
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In 2022/23 and 2023/24, there were more children in poverty having a lone parent than those in a household with at least two adults. The total number of children in low income and in lone parent families increased by 1,243 between 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Households on Universal Credit with children
(quarterly updates delayed by the DWP)
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As of May2024, 28,221 households in Surrey were on Universal Credit and included children; this has increased by 14.5 per cent over the last year.
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Over the last two years, the number of single parent households on Universal Credit has risen by 15.2 per cent, while the number of households on Universal Credit with children and an adult couple has risen by 12.5 per cent.
Children eligible for free school meals
(next update est. June 2026)
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During the 2024/25 school year, there were 24,215 pupils in state-funded schools in Surrey known to be eligible for free school meals.
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The percentage of children in Surrey schools who were eligible for free school meals has increased by 10.9 per cent in the last year from 14.3 per cent in 2023/24 to 14.8 per cent in 2024/25.
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While the number of pupils who are known to be eligible to for free school meals has been rising, a quarter of these pupils have not been taking their free school meal. The number of pupils who are eligible but not taking free school meals has risen from 4,342 in 2019/20 to 6,168 Surrey pupils in 2024/25.
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Rates are higher in certain schools: 61.9 per cent of pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision ('AP') schools were eligible for free school meals and 39.9 per cent in state-funded special schools. This is compared to around 14 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals in state-funded primary and secondary schools.
A summary of low income and unemployment in Surrey which is not focused on children can be found on Surrey-i here.
A summary of pensioners in poverty in Surrey can be found on Surrey-i here.
A summary on fuel poverty in Surrey can be found on Surrey-i here.
