Record highs of people living in food poverty says Salisbury based charity
Research by Trussell shows over nine million people are living in food poverty
A food poverty charity based in Salisbury is calling for Government action in the Autumn budget after it found over nine million people in the UK are facing hunger and hardship.
Trussell - formerly known as the Trussell Trust - says three million children across the country are facing destitution and say it cannot be allowed to continue.
Research by the charity found urgent action is needed to reduce the nine million figure.
Tom Weekes from the charity told Greatest Hits Radio it's an issue that's only going to get worse, unless the Government acts.
"We've seen that real increase in the last kind of three or four years because of that cost of living crisis because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this has been an issue that's been growing over the last decade and we do need a kind of a plan to actually reduce the need for food banks," he said.
He told us that their research helped them identify policy levers that the Government can pull to help people.
"It's an unprecedented number of people facing hunger and hardship, more people than ever.
"But we do really see that kind of really horrendous levels of hardship for children, for disabled people, for renters, and then for people growing up in ethnic minority families as well.
"It's affecting far too many people and if no action is taken, our research actually finds that further, 425,000 people are going to be facing hunger and hardship by 2026," Tom said.
Starting the conversation
The research is viewed by the charity as a conversation starter with Government officials.
Trussell has been calling for an Essentials Guarantee which would see universal credit (UC) cover the cost of basic necessities and is now also calling for a protected minimum floor in universal credit.
Tom explained what that would mean for people on UC: "It means that people's income wouldn't be dragged down below by things like the benefit cap, below the level of what they're supposed to be paid.
"And that's that really key first step that the UK government can take towards guaranteeing people's incomes to actually afford those essentials."
The charity said its analysis showed that more than half (53%) of people facing hunger and hardship live in a disabled family, almost one in three (32%) 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 (24%).
Charity's work 'not a way out' for struggling people
The organisation said their data suggests work is not a guaranteed route out of hardship, as almost six in 10 (58%) 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 (28%) for people living in black, African, Caribbean and black British families, Trussell said.
Helen Barnard, director of policy, research and Impact at Trussell, said these figures "should not be the case in one of the richest countries in the world".
A Government spokesperson said: "No child should be in poverty. This Government is taking action through our new Child Poverty Taskforce, which is developing an ambitious strategy to give children the best start in life - through work, housing, education, heath, childcare and the social security system.
"Alongside this, we have extended the Household Support Fund to support the most vulnerable this winter and have committed to reviewing universal credit while we deliver on our plan to tackle inequality and make work pay to deliver opportunity across Britain."