Millions affected by food insecurity – survey

Around one in seven adults live in homes where people have skipped meals, eaten smaller portions or gone hungry all day because they could not afford or access food, research suggests.

The number of people struggling to buy food has risen by 57% in three months, according to research by the Food Foundation.

The charity said foodbank users are increasingly requesting items that do not need cooking because they are worried about how they will afford rising energy bills.

The “chilling” figures come at a time when the cost of living crisis is increasingly hitting families who are facing rising utility and food prices, which are outstripping the amount by which benefits have risen.

The charity analysed responses from 10,674 UK adults who were surveyed online by YouGov between April 22 and 29.

Some 13.8% said they or a member of their household had either eaten smaller meals than usual or skipped meals, not eaten despite being hungry, or not eaten for a full day because they could not afford or get access to food in the past month.

Extrapolated to UK population level, the findings suggest around 7.3 million adults live in households affected by food insecurity, including 2.6 million children.

This is up from 4.7 million adults surveyed in January (8.8% of respondents).

The research shows that nearly half of households on Universal Credit have been food insecure in the past six months.

The Food Foundation is calling on the government to increase benefits in line with inflation and expand access to free school meals and the Healthy Start programme.