More than nine million people in the UK experience extreme poverty and hunger, making them more reliant on food handouts from charities, according to research.
A report from charity Trussell says Labor will be unable to deliver on its manifesto promise to remove the “moral stain” on food banks unless it tackles the low household incomes of this group, which accounts for one in seven people. Dew.
The report defines “hunger and hardship,” or people living on incomes at least 25% below the relative poverty line, by 1 million more people than five years ago and 3 million more than 20 years ago. The number of people who died increased by nearly 30,000 people, the study said. Found it.
Mr Trussell said the rapid increase in recent years in the number of households living in this type of deep poverty – those who constantly struggle to afford food, heating, clothing and other everyday necessities – has led to increased use of food banks. has reached record levels.
Graph showing the increase in hunger and poverty over the five years to 2023
Emma Levy, the charity’s chief executive, said: “In 2024, we face historically high levels of food bank need. As a society, we cannot allow this to continue. We cannot make food banks the new normal.”
Children are at high risk of hunger and hardship, with one in five young people in the UK falling into this category. One-third of large families, those with three or more children, were also at higher risk of relying on charity food.
Mr Trussell did not call on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to immediately remove the two-child benefit limit in her autumn statement this month, despite the disproportionate impact it would have on the finances and well-being of large families.
The charity believes that removing the two-child limit would reduce poverty levels for children in large families, but most people at high risk of using food banks, including many disabled people and unpaid carers, will It will hardly be possible to address people’s needs immediately.
“We know that lifting the two-child limit is a positive step for large families and agree that it is an important part of addressing this problem, but as this research shows, and the vast majority of people facing hardship would not benefit from just that one change,” said Helen Barnard, policy director at Trussell.
Graph showing the average percentage of people facing hunger and hardship
In the short term, the Prime Minister is expected to resist pressure from poverty campaigners and marginal Labor members to lift the two-child limit. The Treasury believes that the £3 billion cost of scrapping the much-criticized Tory policy is now unaffordable, given competing investment demands across the public service.
Mr Trussell said it was essential to fix Britain’s outdated and stingy welfare system to reduce the use of food banks, with the first step being to extend universal credit with monthly deductions for past loans and debts. He called on ministers to protect the incomes of the 2.2 million people whose incomes have been reduced. , another 120,000 households will reach the benefit cap.
This could be achieved by introducing a legal minimum income limit to the standard universal credit allowance. This would limit the amount the state can collect each month. They also want to increase housing benefit rates based on rent and protect disability benefits.
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The study found that most people facing hunger and hardship (58%) belong to households where at least one person is working. Almost four in 10 people in households claiming universal credit were experiencing hunger and hardship.
Trussell (previously known as Trussell Trust) is the UK’s largest food bank network with over 1,400 food bank stores. Last year we distributed a record 3.1 million food parcels. He vowed to eliminate the need for food banks, arguing that they have no place in a “just and caring society”.
Labour’s 2024 election manifesto promises to “end mass reliance on emergency food parcels”, calling it a “moral stain on our society”. He also vowed to overhaul universal credit and introduce strategies to tackle child poverty.
Ian Porter, senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Ministers committed to ending poverty should take the findings as a sign that they cannot afford to waste any more time and must act immediately. We have to wake up,” he said. In its first budget, governments have a moral obligation to alleviate the hardships that have become all too prevalent in recent years. ”
A government spokesperson said: “No child should live in poverty. This Government is taking action through the new Child Poverty Task Force to provide children with access to life through jobs, housing, education, health, childcare and social security. We are developing an ambitious strategy to give you the best possible start.
“Alongside this, this winter we will extend the Household Support Fund to support the most vulnerable people and commit to tackling inequality and paying working wages to deliver opportunities across the UK. As we deliver our plans, we have committed to reviewing Universal Credit.”
