Having a job no longer preventing hunger for people in the South East, report finds
A report out today from charity The Trussell Trust's found more than 1/3 people using its food banks are employed
Working is no longer enough to prevent people in the South East from going hungry, new data's found.
A report out today from charity The Trussell Trust's found more than a third of people using its food banks, are employed.
People in manual and service roles – such as bus drivers and care workers – are among the working people most likely to face hunger, despite having a job.
It's analysis also estimated that, across the South East in 2024, almost 1.5 million people (1,490,000), including 390,000 children, faced hunger due to a lack of money.
The charity suggested that "very low incomes" are driving hunger and food bank need in the UK.
Helen Barnard, director of policy, research and impact at Trussell, said: “Hunger and hardship are increasingly seen as a normal part of everyday life in the South East.
"This is not an inevitable trend, but the result of systems that urgently need updating - particularly our social security system.
"“It isn't right that hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life - including pensioners, disabled people, working families, and carers - are struggling to make ends meet. Nobody in the South East should face hunger.
"The UK government rightly committed to end the need for food banks and ensure every child has the best possible start in life; this research is the benchmark against which they will be judged.
" "Parents are telling us they are losing sleep, worrying about how they will pay for new shoes, school trips, keep the lights on, or afford the bus fare to work.
"We have already created a generation of children who've never known life without food banks. That must change.
"We have seen small steps of progress. We now need the UK government to match urgency with ambition to turn the tide of hunger and hardship, for good.”
A DWP spokesperson said:
“This Government is determined to tackle the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence.
“In addition to extending free school meals and ensuring the poorest children don’t go hungry in the holidays with £1billion to reform crisis support, our Child Poverty Taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy later this year.
“We are also overhauling jobcentres and reforming the broken welfare system to support people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most.”