New research suggests that hundreds of thousands of working parents across the UK are turning to food banks to feed their families as the cost of living crisis continues to intensify.
A survey by The Felix Project found that 23 per cent of working parents had used a food support service in the last year. If reflected across the UK population, this could represent around 1.7 million parents. Of those seeking help, one in four is visiting a food bank every week or fortnight, as rising prices make it increasingly difficult to provide regular meals for their children.
The figures follow a warning from the Trussell Trust earlier this month that it expects to distribute a food parcel every 10 seconds this winter, highlighting the scale of hardship facing millions of families.
Rachel Ledwith, head of community at The Felix Project, said: “This is a stark picture; to have the proof that children are going to bed hungry on a weekly basis is heartbreaking and to know that without food banks so many working people would go hungry demonstrates the need we are facing across every part of society.”
The survey of 4,000 working parents revealed that:
• 10 per cent have had to send their children to bed hungry at least once a week.
• 9 per cent have had to send their children to school hungry at least once a week.
• 67 per cent worry their children are aware of the family’s financial problems.
Edith, a single mother from south London who works in a school full-time, relies on a food bank each Wednesday. Without it, she fears she would have to skip meals herself.
“It’s really helping me get by – I don’t know what I would do without it,” she said. She added that rising costs mean she cannot afford Christmas presents this year: “My children, they know mummy’s not going to buy them anything tangible. We do celebrate Christmas, but they don’t expect any presents because there’s no money to buy it.”
Nike, who runs the food bank Edith uses, said the service is becoming normalised for many children: “More working people are coming to us. They are doing all they can, but wages and bills are not in sync and they have no choice if they don’t want their children going to bed hungry – which sadly they are.”
Research by the Living Wage Foundation earlier this year found that over half of low-paid workers in Britain regularly skip meals due to rising costs. The Felix Project’s data echoes this, showing that food bank use rises to 30 per cent among parents earning £25,000 or less.
A government spokesperson said: “Food bank use is a blight on the country and although it went down last year we are determined to do more.
“To help with the cost of living we have increased the National Living Wage, worth £900 a year from next year for a full-time worker, and will take £150 off average energy bills from April.
“Thanks to our decision to scrap the two-child limit and introduce a wider package of measures for families we will also lift 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament.”
