Record number of people face hunger, warns charity

A record 9.3 million people – including one in five children – are facing hunger and hardship in the UK, according to an antipoverty charity.

- AINE FOX

Trussell said the analysis of the latest data showed 6.3 million adults and 3 million children were in a situation that saw them living well below the poverty line and are most likely to be using a food bank or are at risk of doing so.

The total figure, for the year to March 2023, is up by 580,000 from the previous year, had risen by a million in five years and is a record high in data since comparable records began in 2000, it said.

Trussell – which operates a network of food banks across the UK – said the latest figures equate to one in seven (14 per cent) people, and one in five (20.9 per cent) children facing hunger and hardship.

US singer Taylor Swift made a “generous donation” to 1,400 food banks across the UK during her Eras Tour this summer – something Trussell has previously said would have a “local and national impact” and had helped “put a spotlight” on their work.

The charity warned that, without change from the government, a further 425,000 people, including 170,000 children, are projected to face hunger and hardship by 2026-27.