Britain’s largest food charity has warned that government inaction on child poverty and rising food bank use is fuelling public anger over falling living standards and driving demand for political alternatives.
The Trussell Trust, which runs over 1,400 food banks across the UK, said one in six households went hungry in 2024. Without urgent and ambitious policies, the charity warned, the UK risks locking in a “new normal” of deepening poverty and hardship.
Working Families Struggling to Eat
The Trussell Trust’s biennial Hunger in the UK report revealed that having a job is no longer a guarantee against hunger. Workers in low-paid and insecure jobs – including carers and bus drivers – are increasingly relying on food banks.
Three in 10 food bank users in 2024 came from working households, compared with just 24% in 2022. “Work is not providing reliable protection from severe hardship,” the charity stated.
Millions of Children Affected
The report estimated that 14 million people in the UK experienced food insecurity last year, including 3.8 million children – a sharp rise from 11.6 million in 2022. Families in deprived areas were three times more likely to face hunger than those in wealthier neighbourhoods.
The charity called for the abolition of the two-child benefit limit, which denies £3,500 a year to third and subsequent children in families on universal credit. Scrapping the limit could lift 670,000 people – including 470,000 children – out of poverty.
“Generation of Children Growing Up With Food Banks”
Helen Barnard, the Trussell Trust’s director of policy, said many parents are losing sleep over how to afford school trips, clothes, and even bus fares. “We have already created a generation of children who have never known life without food banks. That must change,” she said.
Government Response
The Department for Work and Pensions said it was committed to reducing food bank reliance, citing £1 billion in crisis support reforms, extended free school meals, and a forthcoming child poverty reduction strategy this autumn.
While the government welcomed plans for more social housing and stronger employment rights, the Trussell Trust stressed these measures would not go far enough to meet immediate needs.
The charity warned that without a significant policy shift in the autumn budget, the UK faces the risk of cementing extraordinarily high levels of poverty and food insecurity for years to come.
