MORE than nine million people in the UK are experiencing “hunger and hardship”: a situation in which events such as job loss or an unexpected bill necessitate foodbank use, Trussell reports.
The charity’s interim report, The Cost of Hunger and Hardship, was published on Wednesday. It is based on analysis of government data carried out by WPI and the Centre for Social Policy Studies. A final report on the project, which seeks to explore the full scale of the need for emergency food in the UK, is due to be published in the spring of 2025.
The findings suggest that a record 9.3 million people in the UK, including three million children, are facing hunger and hardship — a measure created by Trussell (formerly the Trussell Trust), which has a network of more than 1400 foodbanks.
This figure has increased by one million since 2019, the report says. A further 425,000 people are projected to face this situation in the next three years.
“This would increase the rate of hunger and hardship from 14.0 per cent in 2022/23 to 14.6 per cent in 2026/27. Over this period, without action, an additional 170,000 children are projected to face hunger and hardship. This increases the rate of hunger and hardship from 20.9 per cent to 22.1 per cent for children,” the report says.
Children under four face the highest risk of any age group (24 per cent) of falling into this measure.
Hunger and hardship is defined in the report as a median being between “deep poverty” — living 50 per cent below the poverty line, and “very deep poverty” — living in a household with an income (after housing costs) that is equivalent to less than 40 per cent of the UK median.
Most people facing hunger and hardship (58 per cent) are in a family in which at least one person is in employment, while more than half (53 per cent) are living in a family that includes someone with a disability, the report says.
One third (32 per cent) of people in single-parent families, and more than one quarter (28 per cent) of people living in Black, African, Caribbean, and Black British families are at risk, compared with 11 per cent of people in white families.
The report concludes: “These findings underline the urgent need to update our social security system as a priority so that it better protects people from needing emergency food. The UK government need not wait for its promised review of Universal Credit to act. There are steps it can take now to start fixing the foundations of our social security system — particularly introducing a protected minimum floor, setting a threshold below which payments cannot fall.
“This would offer an immediate sign of progress from a government seeking change and renewal, be a step towards the Essentials Guarantee, and ensure people receive the maximum benefit of any future updates to the system.”
Trussell’s own research suggests that 86 per cent of people who use its foodbanks are destitute. Its chief executive, Emma Revie, said: “It’s 2024, and we’re facing historically high levels of foodbank need. As a society, we cannot allow this to continue. We must not let foodbanks become the new norm.”