New report from IPPR sets out transport challenges for lower income households
Tue 15 July 2025
View all news
A new report from IPPR highlights the transport challenges faced by lower income people in the UK. The report calls for the creation of a social leasing scheme for electric vehicles, so people on low incomes in rural households can lease a car for a low monthly fee subsidised by the Government.
The report says that the poorest households spend a quarter of their income on their car and that transport costs overall take up twice the share of their income compared with better off households.
IPPR highlights the importance of public transport for lower income households but says that poor services leave people more dependent on their cars than ever before. The report recommends new funding for local authorities to save local bus routes and for the setting up of transport concession schemes, such as travel passes for young people and jobseekers.
The report also calls on the Government to consolidate, devolve and increase funding for local bus services and to set national targets for increased active travel and bus passenger numbers. In addition, it suggests measures to enable road space reallocation by local and combined authorities to support modal shift.
On emissions, the report comments on the inequality between wealthier and poorer members of the community in terms of their impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Conseqently it calls on policies to:
1. Target the emissions, particularly from flights, produced by those very mobile, highly wealthy individuals whose personal emissions are disproportionate, and who have the means to make a shift
2. Focus on policies to support active travel and public transport, which would benefit everyone
3. Provide support to shift to electric vehicles, particularly for those currently most dependent on cars and who would struggle to make the transition by their own means
In addition to the call for a social leasing scheme for electric vehicles for low incomes households, IPPR joins the chorus of voices calling for a reduction in VAT rate on electricity supplied through public chargepoints from 20 per cent to five per cent, using competition law to ensure that the private sector passes this saving on to consumers
Becca Massey-Chase, principal research fellow at IPPR, said: "“Too many people are locked out of opportunity because the transport system simply doesn’t work for them. Parents are out of work, kids are late to school, and medical appointments are missed — not because people are unwilling, but because the buses don’t turn up or the cost of a journey is unaffordable.
"If the government is serious about tackling poverty, it must fix local transport. That means cheaper, more reliable services — designed with and for the people who rely on them most.”
Becca Lyon, Head of England at Save the Children UK, said: "We fear transport is becoming increasingly inaccessible to families and is an under-explored outcome of the cost of living crisis. It comes up as a major issue time and time again. It's clear that more investment in affordable local transport options is needed to give families more choice about how they spend their money."
Related Links
< Back to news list