New data show 4 million children in households affected by food insecurity

by Shona Goudie

The Food Foundation has been conducting nationally representative surveys since the start of the pandemic to track levels of food insecurity and identify subgroups of the population who are higher risk. The full findings from our latest survey conducted in September 2022 can be found here. 
In this data story we explore specifically what the latest findings show for households with children and call for urgent action by Government to ensure children can eat well during the cost of living crisis. 
 

One in four household with children (25.8%) have experienced food insecurity in the past month affecting an estimated 4 million children in the UK.

This is the highest level since we began tracking food insecurity levels at the start of the pandemic.

Households with children are more likely to experience food insecurity than households without children (25.8% compared with 16.0%).

Furthermore, the situation has deteriorated more rapidly for households with children, increasing 50% since the since the last survey we conducted in April 2022, compared to a 26% increase in households without children.

Larger families are more likely to experience food insecurity.

This may reflect the Cost of Living Support payment being at a flat rate per household and so larger families proportionally benefit less from the payments.

These data show that an unacceptable number of children are not guaranteed access to the food they need and not enough is being done to specifically target support at children at risk of food insecurity. We're calling for the Government to extend Free School Meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit to ensure that all children in poverty have access to at least one nutritious meal a day at school. 

Show your support by writing to your MP: we've drafted a message you can email your MP, quickly and easily. The more politicians hear from the people they represent, the more likely they are to act to #FeedtheFuture