Government called on to tackle food poverty as report reveals almost three million children experiencing food insecurity

Government has been urged to make a reduction in children’s food insecurity a goal after it was revealed that 2.7 million children experienced food insecurity.

The call was made by the Food Foundation for the Government to make this a priority for the Child Poverty Taskforce and Children’s Wellbeing Bill. It came after data from the foundation revealed that food insecurity in June affected 14 per cent of UK households, and 18 per cent of households with children. The foundation also revealed among the poorest fifth of population, households with children would have to spend 70 per cent of their disposable income on food to afford the Eatwell Guide (the government recommended healthy diet). In comparison, households without children in the poorest fifth would need to spend 42 per cent of disposable income. This is still unfeasibly high and highlights why the UK remains blighted by high levels of food insecurity.

The data came from new Food Insecurity Stats, which show that in the month leading up to the election, 7.2m adults and 2.7m children experienced food insecurity. This demonstrates the scale of the challenge the new government faces and underscores the need for plans to ensure everyone can afford and access nutritious food.

The Food Foundation is calling on Government to make reduction in children’s food insecurity a goal, and that the cost of healthy and sustainable diets be taken into account when setting benefits levels and the national minimum/living wage. It also wants Government to provide free school meals to all children, starting by increasing the eligibility criteria to all children in families in receipt of Universal Credit and auto-enrolling all eligible children.

Shona Goudie, Policy and Advocacy Manager at The Food Foundation, commented: “Last week’s announcement that the Government are convening a Child Poverty Taskforce is a positive step; however, the immediate action that is so desperately needed to relieve the families across the UK who are going hungry was sorely lacking in the King’s Speech. Food insecurity has been persistently far too high over the last few years, with the previous government failing to take decisive action for too long. We are calling on the new government to ensure that everyone can afford and access a nutritious diet that will keep them healthy, and in doing so achieve their ambitions to make our children healthier, relieve pressure on the NHS and grow the economy.”

Michael Marmot, Director of UCL Institute of Health Equity and Professor
of Epidemiology and Public Health, added: “To follow the government’s healthy eating advice, households with children in the lowest 20 per cent of income would have to spend 70 per
cent of their income on food. These people are not ignorant, lazy, or bad planners. They are poor. The challenge for the new government is to ensure that every child has the conditions for the best start in life.”