Food insecurity is now twice the level it was last year. But some simple moves could ease the pressure if government and retailers are listening
Last week we learned that UK inflation had dropped to 7.9 per cent in the year to June.
To many observers, the figure came as a bit of a surprise. They’d been expecting it to fall from the previous month’s 8.7 per cent, but only to around 8.2 per cent.
It’s lower than the peak of 11.1 per cent we hit in October 2022 – but it’s still a staggering number. And with wage inflation still lagging behind (albeit the gap is closing) it shows that the cost-of-living crisis is not yet abating.
But while the 7.9 per cent CPI figure has been helped in part by falling petrol prices, the rate of food inflation is still much higher at more than 17 per cent.
New research, carried out by the Food Foundation in June, found that 17 per cent of all UK households faced food insecurity during that month. That’s around nine million adults across the country.
Rates of food insecurity are now twice the level they were as recently as January last year. Children and people claiming benefits continue to be most at risk – in fact, the study found that 48 per cent of households claiming Universal Credit had faced food insecurity. That’s in spite of the fact that most benefits were uprated in spring by 10.1 per cent.
In the face of such massive food inflation, it’s clear the uplift hasn’t been enough to take a significant bite out of Britain’s food insecurity problems.
And this means of course that, despite parents’ best efforts, the health of millions of children is being negatively affected simply because the cost of being well fed is out of reach.
Neelam* is 36 and lives in London with her two children, one of whom has allergies and special educational needs (SEN). Due to illness and disabilities Neelam has gone from working two jobs to getting by on benefits alone, and says rising food prices are taking a huge toll on her budget.
“My daughter is obsessed with these yoghurt drinks,” she says. “They’re four for £2.50 when before they were £1.50. She drinks them at night and because they’re such small bottles she goes through six or seven a night. When they run out she’ll scream the place down.
“It’s really difficult, she’s in paediatric allergy services and she’s not a big eater. These get her through the night but it’s very, very expensive. I look for deals and I get what I can, but costs are horrendous.”
Neelam’s experience shows it’s not always as simple as trading down to cheaper stores or product ranges. And while prices keep rising and her income remains fixed, it means she can’t always afford fresh milk for herself and often relies on UHT cartons from the foodbank.
Food for thought
The Food Foundation research also uncovered that a weekly food shop that meets even the most basic nutritional needs has risen in cost by 20-25 per cent in just over a year. When that’s broken down, it means that many families must either be finding the extra cash from elsewhere in their budget or the nutritional quality of the food they buy is slipping.
While supermarkets have come under pressure to do more to help from both the Commons Business and Trade Committee and the Competition and Markets Authority, the government has also been urged to extend free school meals and increase the value (and uptake) of the notoriously under-claimed Healthy Start voucher scheme.
But while retailers and the government slog it out over who’s doing more to help consumers, there must be things that could be done right now to stop children going to bed hungry.
Campaign organisation Feeding Britain wants benefits to be linked to the cost of providing an adequate diet.
National director Andrew Forsey says that when people have a bit of financial breathing space the pressure on food aid, now an issue in its own right, eases off. But so far the relief has been short-term.
“After each round of Cost of Living Payments, as well as when there was a £20-a-week increase in Universal Credit, we saw a shortening of queues outside foodbanks and food clubs,” he says.
“However, the temporary nature of that support and its accompanying impact speaks to the need for a more fundamental change in the way benefits are calculated. In particular, what are the basic rates of payment that would ensure at all times people can afford to eat properly?”
It seems like a basic unit of measurement. Other simple suggestions, this time from the Food Foundation, include putting the onus on retailers to make sure fruit and veg are competitively priced and to ensure that the cheapest yoghurts and cereals are also the healthiest.
The organisation would also like to see the Healthy Start voucher scheme extended.
For Neelam, some of these ideas make a lot of sense. She’d love to see benefit levels linked to the cost of a healthy diet, for example.
“Definitely this, and anyone on PIP should be a priority,” she says. She’d also like to see more reasonable prices for yoghurt, cereals, fruit and vegetables – but she’s not sure about making Healthy Start automatic: “Sign-up is good so they know people won’t misuse the system – so it’s good they check,” she says.
The potential of Healthy Start
Nonetheless, for those already using the vouchers it’s clear how Healthy Start could be a low-hanging fruit in the effort to improve the lives of vulnerable families.
The value of the vouchers didn’t rise alongside that of other benefits in spring, remaining at £4.25 a week (families with a child under one qualify for double vouchers).
According to consumer group Which? this means that for someone with two vouchers a week, the real-term value has dropped by £110 a year since April 2021.
The group also wants to see the scheme tweaked to lift more families out of food insecurity. Since the vouchers went digital, there’s little to stop an automatic link to inflation (Scotland’s equivalent Best Start scheme uprated in line with inflation in spring).
And extending it to all families on Universal Credit with children up to the age of five would cut child hunger by dovetailing with the start of school and a free daily meal, the group said.
Anything that takes the pressure off – even slightly – is invaluable, says Neelam.
And folding money guidance into food aid services like parcels or vouchers would be another quick win.
Neelam received money guidance and support from Clean Slate (home to Quids in! Pro) and was able to access a grant that changed everything over the following months.
“I got a TV, clothes and lots of food for my family for a good few months,” she says.
“It made such a difference, not having to pay for food because of having the vouchers. It was a lifechanger.”
*Name has been changed
Image: Aldi
