The World - News from July 27, 1986

Nearly 16% of all Britons live in poverty, government figures showed. The number of people receiving state handouts--the level at which poverty is assessed--rose from 5.9 million in 1979, the year Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took office, to 8.8 million in 1983 out of a population of 56 million. “Life at this level of income is basic and sparse,” said Malcolm Wicks, director of the Family Policy Studies Center. “Poverty is a grim fact of life for many British families.” The figures were released just after Parliament began its summer recess, and opposition politicians immediately accused the government of a cover-up.