RESEARCH BRIEFING
In 2020/21, 4.2 million people (6%) were in food poverty,
including 9% of children.
This briefing prepared by the House of Commons Library provides
statistics on food poverty in the UK, including food banks and
free school meals.
Food poverty
There is no widely accepted definition of ‘food poverty’.
However, a household can broadly be defined as experiencing food
poverty or ‘household food insecurity’ if they cannot (or are
uncertain about whether they can) acquire “an adequate quality or
sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways”.
The increase in the cost of living has increased household food
insecurity. In June to July 2022, of the 91% of adults in Great
Britain who reported an increase in their cost of living, 95% saw
the price of their food shopping go up, and 44% had started spending less on
essentials including food.
A YouGov survey by the Food Foundation found that in April
2022, 15.5% of all UK households were
food insecure (ate less or went a day without eating
because they couldn’t access or afford food).
According to the Department for Work and Pensions’ Households Below Average Income
survey, in 2020/21, 4.2 million people (6%) were in food
insecure households. Among the 10.5 million people in relative
poverty, 16% were in food insecure households, including 17% of
children. People in relative poverty live in a household with
income less than 60% of contemporary median income.
Food banks
Food banks are run by charities and are intended as a temporary
provision to supply emergency food. There are no official
statistics on food banks, but there are around 1,300 Trussell
Trust food banks and 1,034 Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN)
food banks in the UK.
In 2021/22, the Trust supplied 2.2 million
three-day emergency food parcels, a decrease of 15% on the
previous year. The general trend of increasing numbers has
continued. In the financial year 2021/22 there was an increase of
14% compared to 2019/20. The big increase in the year 2020/21 was
cause by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021/22, 832,000 food parcels
went to children.
Free school meals
In England, free school meals (FSM) are a statutory entitlement
available to eligible pupils. Local authorities are responsible
for providing FSM.
In January 2022, there were around 1.9 million pupils known to
eligible for FSM. This means there has been an increase in
the proportion eligible to 22.5% of state-funded pupils (from
20.8% in January 2021, 17.3% in January 2020, and 15.4% in
January 2019).
This increase could be driven by many factors including the
Covid-19 pandemic and the continued effect of the transitional protections
during the rollout of Universal Credit.
Free school meals and educational attainment
On average, pupils eligible for free school meals achieve lower
GCSE attainment than other pupils. This is based on achieving a
“standard pass” in English and maths GCSE. In 2021, 51% of pupils known to be
eligible for FSM achieved a standard pass in both subjects,
compared to 77% of pupils not eligible. This was a gap of 26
percentage points. In recent years this gap has remained broadly
the same.
There are also differences in attainment between different groups
of pupils receiving FSM. For example, pupils receiving FSM in London
have the highest GCSE attainment (of all pupils known to
be eligible for free school meals), and the smallest attainment
gap between pupils that are not eligible for FSM, of any region.
Documents to download
Food poverty: Households, food banks and free school meals
Download full report
