About the Project
This tool was created as part of ongoing research into poverty-related data gaps in the UK conducted by the Royal Statistical Society and Centre for Public Data’s, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Insight Infrastructure team.
The project has several aims, including identifying key data gaps that negatively impact research into poverty or hinder effective policymaking and anti-poverty interventions, as well as raising awareness of these gaps within the UK statistical system.
Final outputs from this project are expected in March 2026. Please note that this tool will be periodically updated as we receive submissions. As it is meant to be a living tool, all information contained here is subject to change. Further additions, corrections, and expansions are expected. We welcome contributions from any interested individuals and organisations working in this space.
The Explorer draws on desk research that looked through >300 publications from civil society organisations that were flagged as having some relevance to poverty research. This document has fed into the findings of our interim summary report for our project, available here. You can find an outline of our methodology for extracting data gaps from these publications there or on our Methodology page.
If you have experience working with data that relates to poverty or adjacent subjects, we invite you to contribute to this tool. Please complete our form below to contribute to our research by highlighting poverty data gaps in your research area that you believe we should be aware of.
If you have any comments or queries, please contact Dakota Langhals (d.langhals@rss.org.uk), RSS Policy Researcher, or the RSS policy inbox (policy@rss.org.uk).
