Food poverty on the rise in the UK

By Channel 4

Poverty

But there is a new phenomenon being reported by the foodbanks which throws light on life in Britain for many today. They say their biggest growing cohort of people coming for help getting food on the table are people who either have an income, or people in a household where there is an income.

In-work poverty was a growing phenomenon in the UK – the latest estimate is that 53 per cent of working age households in poverty have at least one working adult. This is around 2.3m households, after factoring in housing costs. What the foodbank experience suggests is that these individuals are finding they plummet into crisis situations suddenly and more frequently.

One woman who has been forced to use the foodbanks in Salisbury told Channel 4 News: "Because I've always worked, I never expected to be in that position where I would be so grateful for somebody else giving us some food."

Crisis situation

Other factors that seem to trigger crisis situations for the working poor are self-employed individuals whose income is erratic, and workers forced onto lower working hours by their employers.

The latest National Institute of Economic and Social Research revealed that 97 per cent of the jobs created since the recession ended are part-time.

But the Department for Work and Pensions' figures breakdown seems to show that 1.2m of them actually wanted to work more hours but were being kept at lower working hours to keep the company ticking over or to keep company costs down. As unemployment figures underline, it's not the right time to go hunting in the job market, so people stay put and hope for better times.

For some needing food parcels the problem is accumulated debts and credit card payments eating into their disposable income. The personal debt figures for the UK tell you how widespread that must be. What all said was that the costs of petrol, food and rent – the basics – are having a lethal effect.

Political Editor Gary Gibbon said: "Tax credits don't seem to protect these people. The market doesn't want to pay them at the rate for the hours they want to work. Politicians have told workers that getting into work is the promised land, but what if it isn't? And what if the economic recovery doesn't float all boats?"