Trussell Trust survey finds millions face hunger due to lack of money
The figure is more than double Scotland's population
Last updated 28th Jun 2023
More the double the population of Scotland are facing hunger due to lack of money, a Trussell Trust survey has found.
The research by the Salisbury based charity has found ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and carers are among those likely to be most affected.
And with one in five people using a Trussell Trust foodbank in a working household, the problem is deep rooted.
A worrying trend
The charity are continuing their calls for the Government to aid people on Universal Credit by introducing an Essentials Guarantee.
Rachel Bull from the Trussell Trust, says social security isn’t protecting people from going without the essentials:
“When energy bills are what they are, and when a supermarket shop costs as much as it does, we estimate that £85 is at least 30 pounds, £35 to left, too little to afford the essentials, which is why we think the government needs to change the system and make sure that Universal Credit is always enough for people to afford life's essentials.”
Rachel also told us that the trend of people using foodbanks, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, began five years ago. 2022 was the Trust’s busiest year, with three million food parcels given out.
“The numbers of those people who are struggling to make ends meet go much, much wider.
Over the last five years, the number of food parcels we have given out has more than doubled. So we know this is a trend. We're really worried about what might happen over the next few years.”
Work not saving people either
A common misconception is that working people don’t need to use a foodbank, but the survey has dispelled that myth.
Rachel told us work isnt always a factor the protects people. “One in five people coming to our food banks are in working households. It means that we're just kind of dealing with this really challenging set of circumstances, which means that very few that a lot of these people have very few options to pull themselves out of their circumstances.”
And the lack of money for food is causing another issue – isolation.
“The other thing we find more research is how isolating hunger and destitution is. So a really scary number of people who come to food banks say that they have contact with friends, with relatives, with neighbours less than once a month or never at all.”