"Downing Street's failure to tackle child poverty and reduce food bank use is helping to drive public discontent with falling living standards and fuelling a desire for political alternatives, the UK's biggest charity food provider has warned. Trussell said one in six UK households went hungry last year and, without ambitious policies to tackle deepening poverty, Britain faces the prospect of locking in a new normal of increasingly severe hardship across society."
"Having a job was no longer a defence against hunger, it said, and people in low-paid or precarious work such as carers and bus drivers were among those at risk of food insecurity meaning they regularly could not afford to eat or had to skip meals. Three in 10 people referred to food banks in 2024 were from working households, Trussell said, up from 24% in 2022."
"The party's July 2024 general election manifesto promised to build on the work of past Labour governments to reduce child poverty, transform life chances and end mass dependence of food parcels, which it described as a moral scar on our society. Trussell, which has 1,400 food bank outlets across the UK, said it was increasingly clear the government could not fulfil these manifesto promises unless it urgently tackled the disturbingly high level of severe hardship in many communities."
One in six UK households went hungry last year. Having a job no longer reliably protects against hunger; people in low-paid or precarious work such as carers and bus drivers face food insecurity and may regularly skip meals. Three in ten people referred to food banks in 2024 came from working households, up from 24% in 2022. The July 2024 general election manifesto promised measures to reduce child poverty, improve life chances and end mass dependence on food parcels. The government has not produced a clear, fit-for-purpose plan to tackle entrenched hunger, risking normalization of unmet basic needs and deepening public discontent.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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