95% of food bank users ‘living in destitution’

In early 2020, 95% of people referred to food banks were living in destitution, a report by the Trussell Trust has revealed.

State of Hunger 2021 also found that people forced to food banks at the start of the pandemic faced extreme poverty, with just £248 a month to survive on after housing costs.

More than six in ten working-age people referred to a food bank in early 2020 were disabled, more than three times the rate in the UK working-age population.

And single-parent families are more likely to be forced to a food bank, with almost one in five (18%) of households referred to food banks during the pandemic being single parents, that’s more than twice the rate in the general population (8%).

The charity says hunger in the UK isn’t about food, it’s about people not having enough money for the basics. The research shows extremely low income is a key factor in driving people to food banks.

In early 2020, the average monthly household income after housing costs for people who needed to use a food bank was £248 on average, or £8 a day for a couple without children.

This needs to cover energy and water costs, council tax, food, and other essentials and is just 13% of the average national income.

In fact, in early 2020 95% of people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network were living in ‘destitution’ – this means people cannot afford to eat and stay warm and dry.

The main reason people had such low income was due to social security payments failing to cover the cost of living, according to the research. This was more often than not due to the design of the system, including issues such as the five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment and low levels of payments.

Worryingly, the charity says people living in destitution risk being further pulled under by difficulties such as debt and mental health issues. The research finds in mid-2020 nine in 10 households at food banks were in debt, while six in 10 had arrears on bills and owed money on loans.

In mid-2020, 47% of all people using food banks and 41% of disabled people referred were indebted to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), making it the most common creditor to people at food banks.

People experiencing poor mental health referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network grew from around half (51%) in early 2020 to almost three quarters (72%) in mid-2020.

With high rates of unemployment and redundancies, the charity says more people than never are now likely to need the social security system to provide a lifeline to keep them afloat.

The Trussell Trust is calling for government at all levels to commit to working to end the need for food banks for good as it launches study at a cross-party political event.

The charity says this should start with keeping the £20 increase to Universal Credit introduced during the pandemic but set to be removed in the autumn.

The findings will be discussed by panelists such as Dame Louise Casey and Baroness Stroud at an All-Party Parliamentary Group event on destitution later today.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said: ‘How can anyone in this country stay warm and dry and buy food on just £248 a month after rent?

‘People struggling in extreme poverty are pushed to the doors of food banks because they do not have enough money to survive. Hunger in the UK isn’t about food, it’s about people not being able to afford the basics.

‘We know we can change this. We need to change the conversation around poverty and take action together. We need government at all levels to commit to ending the need for food banks once and for all and to develop a plan to do so.

‘It’s time for the government to make this a priority, to recognise that it must be an essential part of their levelling up agenda to work towards a hunger-free future where we can all afford the basics.’

Dame Louise Casey, the former government adviser on social policy, said: ‘This research today by the Trussell Trust is deeply worrying, with record food bank use showing that too many people have been pushed into hardship by the pandemic.

‘We have to stand together as we pull through this pandemic and not leave people behind, forced to rely on food banks to keep going. That is an abject failure by the government and all of us. Food aid should be a one-off in the UK, not a new form of charity.

‘It is in this government’s gift to end hunger, but it warrants a concerted cross-government and cross-party action, a plan to end the need for food banks, delivered as an urgent priority.’

The Department for Work and Pensions has been contacted for comment.

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