New research reveals how UK welfare digitalisation could limit access to food assistance 

New research from the SOAS Food Studies centre reveals how UK welfare digitalisation reconfigures access to food assistance support for marginalised people

In this article, guest bloggers Iris Lim, Susanne Jaspars and Yasmin Houamed (SOAS) highlight a growing food crisis in the UK, alongside a 'digital-by-default' welfare transformation.

Digitalisation has created the potential to exclude poor and marginalised populations because they are unable to pay for digital access and because of the way the system has been designed. They argue that this exacerbates already existing food insecurity and that supporting digital inclusion is fundamental to addressing it.

Over the last decade, the UK’s deepening food crisis has unfolded alongside a ‘digital-by-default’ transformation of welfare and food support infrastructures. Over this period, food insecurity has increased, with as many as one in 10 households experiencing food insecurity in June 2025.

Emergency food distribution has soared, with Trussell, one of the UK’s largest food bank networks, distributing 2.9 million emergency food parcels in 2024-25, the equivalent of one parcel every 11 seconds.

Policymakers routinely justify digitalisation for reasons of efficiency and accountability, but in this blog, we show how it redistributes responsibility and burden downward onto those already experiencing deprivation and food insecurity and deepens exclusions for those that need welfare the most across England. For a wide range of population groups (for example refugees, migrants, or white working class), design and delivery choices shape who gets help and who falls through the cracks.

What is digitalisation of food assistance and welfare in the UK context?

Government digitalisation strategies from 2010 have been driven by austerity policies which entailed cutting welfare and public service spending. Digitalisation of welfare started with Universal Credit in 2012, which combined seven different benefits (unemployment, housing, child benefit, etc) into a single monthly payment. It requires claimants to apply online, and to provide ongoing online entries and communications with work coaches.

Despite concerns raised early on about exclusions due to digital and general poverty, this was followed by deepening digitalisation. Online registration and pre-paid debit cards for the ‘Healthy Start’ government food support programme (for pregnant women and those with young children) started in 2022. Free School Meals have also been digitalised, and several government and charitable organisations distribute digital vouchers to be redeemed in supermarkets. Supermarkets and other retailers have also developed a number of apps to supply food to organisations and to individuals.

Poverty as a digital 'paywall'

Access to digital devices, data, and skills, all contingent on affordability, has become a prerequisite for gaining welfare support. Many people living in poverty rely on basic phones, or, in the case that their phones have been lost or stolen, they rely on shared numbers.

For those who did have smartphones, being unable to purchase data for internet connectivity means hopping between public Wi-Fi hotspots or borrowing hotspots from volunteers. Broadband social tariffs are poorly publicised and often unaffordable or unavailable where needed. According to one assessment, 95% of eligible households miss out. In some rural and peri-urban areas, connectivity infrastructure is lacking.

Eroding infrastructure and disappearing spaces of care 

The shift to digital has coincided with reduced access to physical spaces where people could previously get face-to-face help. Austerity policies since 2010 have driven library closures, reduced hours of available community support and cut staff across England.

Replacing these public spaces, food banks and community support organisations have doubled as social infrastructure where people can still receive mediated digital access and build trust and skills, yet these remain volunteer dependent and unevenly available. 

Myth of simple digital literacy

One persistent issue underpinning digital welfare is the assumption that digital competence and skills is straightforward. The reality is far more complex. Digital skills vary highly by context and people adept at sending messages and photos to their friends on social media apps may struggle with formal emails, government portals, and forms.

These concerns cut across generations and familiarity with technology, affecting older adults and younger people alike. Language and literacy also create key barriers, with both English as an Additional Language (EAL) and native English speakers struggling when they confront text-heavy portals and official language. To fill this gap, only ad hoc chains of help and translation through friends, children, and volunteers mediate a fragile and uneven access.

Design choices

Interface and service design itself shapes patterns of exclusion. Designers build platforms that work best on desktop computers, but most marginalised people use them on mobile phones with tiny screens. Some systems still require people to download PDFs, print them, fill them out by hand, scan them, and email them back.

These complicated user journeys overwhelm even confident users, especially if they have to travel to access a printer or scanner, which introduces new costs to your attempt to access food assistance. Small missteps, such as a missed upload deadlines or dropped connection, often produce detrimental sanctions or benefits losses.

Rather than streamlining access for those who need food assistance the most, digitalisation seems optimised for administrative efficiency. This creates obstacles for users who must travel far to scan forms, navigate portals instead of speaking to humans, and be digitally competent to demonstrate their need through online forms. 

The psychological toll 

The digital-first regimes carry heavy psychological costs, such as anxiety around sanctions for simply missing an email, humiliation at intrusive verification, and a sense of being set up to fail. People describe panic when payments stop, tears at job centre interactions, and resignation among older residents too proud or too demoralised to ask for help. The shift to digital has removed the human interactions, that at their best, allowed for discretion and dignity.

Conclusion: The politics of digital-by-default and its effect on food insecurity

In a context of cuts and rising need, the UK’s digital transformation of welfare and food assistance often deepens rather than bridges marginalisation. By layering device and data requirements and eroding in-person infrastructures, digitalisation reorganises access to food assistance, welfare, and ultimately, food security. The UK government has developed a welfare system that makes it difficult to navigate for precisely those who need it the most.

Digitalisation has coincided with increases in food insecurity and has added to the burden on food assistance projects, and often volunteers, which now also provide support with digital access. The timing is good to bring about change to address these twin challenges. The Government is committed to reducing dependence on emergency food parcels. And initiatives like The Crisis and Resilience Fund could make digital inclusion a core part of food security policy and not just an afterthought.

This blog was originally published as part of The Politics of Food & Technology series at BLISS.