Trussell Trust survey: more than 14 million in UK faced prospect of going hungry last year

More than 14 million people in the UK faced the prospect of going hungry last year because they did not have enough money to buy food, the anti‑poverty charity Trussell Trust said, marking a rise from 11.6 million in 2022.

The charity’s survey also found that a third of children under five live in homes without enough access to healthy and nutritious food and that one in four children are in what Trussell Trust calls food‑insecure households. The findings point to widening pressure on household incomes and growing reliance on emergency food aid.

The survey, carried out in two parts by market researcher Ipsos on behalf of the Trussell Trust, included questionnaires sent to 4,427 randomly selected adults and a separate survey of 3,866 adults who had been referred to food banks. Researchers also conducted interviews with people who had, and had not, visited food banks but were identified as facing food insecurity.

Trussell Trust said the proportion of people referred to food banks who come from working households has risen notably, from about one in four in 2022 to roughly one in three in 2024. Those in manual and service sector jobs were among the worst affected, with care workers and bus drivers singled out as common examples of people at risk of going hungry despite being in paid employment.

The charity identified low incomes as the main driver of hungry households. Households that accessed food banks said they were left with an average of £104 a week to pay for food, bills, travel to work or school, and essential toiletries after meeting housing costs — an amount Trussell Trust said represents about 17% of what the average UK household would have left after rent or mortgage payments.

Helen Barnard, head of policy at Trussell Trust, described the human impact behind the numbers. She said parents were losing sleep and worrying about how they would pay for new shoes, school trips, keeping the lights on or affording bus fares to work. "We have already created a generation of children who've never known life without food banks. That must change," she said, urging the government to use the survey results to shape policy and referencing the opposition leader's manifesto pledge to tackle poverty and reduce dependence on food banks.

Trussell Trust and other anti‑poverty organisations use the Evidence and Network on UK Household Food Insecurity (ENUF) definition of food insecurity, which describes a lack of money to secure reliable access to sufficient, nutritious food. ENUF notes that food insecurity can be acute, transitory or chronic and can range in severity from worrying about future access to food to going whole days without eating.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said ministers were "determined to tackle the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence." A DWP spokesperson highlighted measures the government is taking, including extending free school meals, providing £1 billion to reform crisis support so the poorest children do not go hungry in holidays, and a child poverty taskforce that will publish a strategy later this year. The department also pointed to plans to overhaul jobcentres and reform the welfare system to support people into more secure work while protecting those most in need.

Analysts and charities say the data show persistent gaps between wages, social security provision and the cost of living. Trussell Trust’s survey adds to a series of reports from other organisations and government statistics that have signalled rising food insecurity in recent years, driven by inflationary pressures, stagnating real wages and the lagged effects of policy changes to benefits and support schemes.

Trussell Trust said its findings are intended to inform policymakers and draw attention to the growing number of households that face difficult choices between essential bills and feeding themselves and their children. The charity called for immediate and longer‑term interventions aimed at increasing household incomes and reducing the need for emergency food aid.

The DWP’s pledge of a forthcoming child poverty strategy and targeted crisis support reforms will be watched closely by campaigners and local services that provide food assistance, who say any reductions in food bank dependence will require coordinated action across welfare, employment and public services.

The Trussell Trust plans to publish more detailed analysis from the Ipsos surveys in coming weeks, including breakdowns of which groups are most affected and the regional distribution of food insecurity. The charity has urged policymakers to consider those findings as they develop responses to what it describes as a growing public health and social welfare concern.