Impact of Covid-19 on food poverty laid bare

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity across the UK, according to a new report.

Research by the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), in partnership with Oxfam, found rising need has been driven mainly by a reduction in income and income crises – affecting mostly those who were already on low incomes but also introducing new people to the realities of life with little money.

Meanwhile, the cost of living rose and travel restrictions made it difficult for people to access foodbanks and cheaper shops.

The report also highlights the impact of lockdown on food aid and their “wraparound” services, such as mental health support and benefit advice which were suspended due to the pandemic.

It states: “While rising food insecurity meant a rise of demand for food aid, foodbanks were forced either to close or to reorganise their operation in order to comply with social distancing and lockdown rules.”

Hartwig Pautz, a senior lecturer in social sciences at UWS who co-authored the report, said: “This report notes the serious impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the financial situation of already vulnerable and marginalised groups and on the access that these groups have had to food.

“The pandemic has meant that food insecurity became even worse for these groups.”

The research focused on four demographic groups identified as being most likely to be at higher risk of food insecurity, even in “normal times” – the homeless, young carers aged under 18 and young adult carers aged 16-25, people seeking asylum, and people with disabilities.