A new Trussel Trust report is calling on the government to act on child poverty ahead of the autumn budget.
The report, titled ‘Hunger in the UK’, shows more than one in three children under five are growing up in households that can’t afford much food.
Delivered in partnership with Ipsos, the report also highlights that 14.1 million people – or one in six households – are experiencing food insecurity. This marks a sharp rise from 2022, when 11.6 million were affected.
‘Children’s futures are being shaped by hunger,’ Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussel Trust, said. ‘No child should have to grow up in a home where parents are skipping meals so they can eat.’
According to the study, a number of families are going without because of the stigma that is attached to food insecurity or because of the belief that others are worse off.
Disabled people are also disproportionately affected. The study outlines 27% of disabled people experience food poverty and 74% of people referred to food banks are disabled or live with someone who is.
‘This crisis isn’t about a shortage of food – it’s about a shortage of income,’ Revie added. ‘Families are being left with, on average, just £104 a week after housing costs to cover all other essentials. That’s only 17% of what the average UK household has.’
Against this backdrop, Trussel Trust is calling on the government to use the upcoming autumn budget to deliver urgent reforms. Some recommendations from the charity include scrapping the two-child limit on benefits – a move that would lift 470,000 children out of hardship – and uprating housing support in line with local rents.
Revie continued: ‘The chancellor has promised opportunity for all. That opportunity must begin with making sure every child has enough to eat.’
The full study can be accessed here.
Photo by Providence Doucet via UnSplash
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