40% of people on Universal Credit ‘are skipping meals to survive’
Four out of 10 Universal Credit claimants have admitted to missing meals over the summer in order to keep up with rising costs, research shows.
Some 41% of people on benefits admitted to skipping meals over the past three months, with a further 38% claiming to have had just one meal or gone a whole day without eating because they couldn’t afford to buy enough food.
The research was conducted by The Trussell Trust, Britain’s biggest food bank charity, which surveyed 1,846 UK adults claiming benefits between August 10 and 31 via YouGov.
Food banks now risk becoming overwhelmed and may be forced to start turning people away as demand has soared during the cost of living crisis.
One food bank manager even said people ‘walk in crying’ after being forced to use their services for the first time ever.
The results further showed 21% of people were unable to cook hot food this summer as they could not afford to use their cooker, while 23% were unable to travel to work or essential appointments as they could not afford to use public transport.
The Trussell Trust said the figures prove existing support is not enough, and have called on the new prime minister Liz Truss to ramp up action.
Almost two thirds (64%) said they spent the first cost of living payment from the Government in July on food, and a further third (34%) said they have fallen into debt in the last three months because they could not keep up with essential bills.
The charity said its network of food banks is providing more help to people compared to before the coronavirus pandemic – the equivalent of a parcel being provided every 13 seconds.
Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie said: ‘This is only going to get worse for people who are already struggling to get by.
‘It’s wrong that people are missing meals and are unable to afford to cook, because they are sick or disabled or caring for someone.
‘The reality is that, instead of providing a lifeline when our circumstances change, financial support such as Universal Credit is leaving people – 41% of whom are working – without enough income to stay warm, fed and dry.
‘It’s pushing people to the doors of foodbanks, and that’s simply not right.’
Ms Revie added: ‘The Government must act now to protect people from harm.
‘This means at least doubling the additional support offered to people on the lowest incomes and rethinking the deductions from the very payments that are meant to help them.’
In her first speech as prime minister, Ms Truss acknowledged the economic pressures arising from the energy crisis, but said she is confident that the UK would ‘ride out the storm’.
She said the country needs to ‘reduce the burden on families and help people get on in life’.
She also promised to ‘get spades in the ground to make sure people are not facing unaffordable energy bills’, pledging to take action this week.
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