A food bank in Rutland says the two-child benefit cap can be unfair
Scrapping the controversial limit could see 570,000 fewer children facing hunger and hardship
A food bank in Rutland says the two-child benefit cap could mean it's harder for parents to afford essentials for their child.
One in five children are facing hunger and hardship in the UK.
This is according to an anti-poverty charity who suggest scrapping the controversial limit could see 570,000 fewer children facing the struggle.
One day we will actually hopefully look after people properly
Analysis of the latest data showed 6.3 million adults and three million children were in a situation that saw them living well below the poverty line and are most likely to be using a food bank or are at risk of doing so.
The total figure, for the year to March 2023, is up by 580,000 from the previous year.
It's risen by a million in five years and is a record high in data since comparable records began in 2000.
Children in that household end up being counted as spare
Volunteer at the Rutland Food Bank, Ali Wainwrigh, said:
"People often say people shouldn't have children if they can't afford it. Sometimes it's the other way around. Sometimes they're a happy family and then something significant happens."
"There are people who need Universal Credit when their family is complete, they may have more children. They may have had a job and now something has changed."
"Yet those children in that household end up being counted as spare."
"It would be so nice if they didn't need to rely upon other people, if they actually had the income that gave them the dignity to live."
To give them enough income to be able to afford to look after themselves and their children would be lovely."
"One day there won't be a need of a food bank. I'm not sure if it'll be in my lifetime, but one day we will actually hopefully look after people properly."
While campaigners and some of Labour's own MPs have called for the two-child limit to be removed, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he will not do so due to the state of the current public finances.
170,000 children are projected to face hunger and hardship by 2026/27
Trussell - which operates a network of food banks across the UK - say the latest figures equate to 14.0% of people, and 20.9% of children facing hunger and hardship.
The charity warned that, without change from the Government, a further 425,000 people, including 170,000 children, are projected to face hunger and hardship by 2026/27.
They also said the analysis showed that more than half of people facing hunger and hardship live in a disabled family, 32% of people in single-parent families face hunger and hardship and that babies and those aged up to four years old face the highest risk of being in this situation of any age group.
Data suggests work is not a guaranteed route out of hardship, as 58% of people facing hunger and hardship live in a family where someone is working.
While 11% of people in white families face hunger and hardship, the proportion rises to more than a quarter for people living in black, African, Caribbean and black British families.