News

'If food prices increase any more, I really don't know how my children are going to eat'

School food Pastoral issues Pupil wellbeing Poverty Vulnerable children Free School Meals
With food inflation soaring to 19.1%, a hard-hitting and poignant film has been released in a bid to bring home to policy-makers the reality faced by families struggling to feed their children.

The film features Melissa, a mother from Solihull, who shares how soaring food prices have impacted her children.

She says in the film: “I don’t know how I am going to cope. If food prices increase any more I really don't know how I’m going to survive, I don’t know how my children are going to eat. I go to bed hungry most days.”

It also includes Birmingham GP Dr Ewan Hamnett who highlights how those with limited income have no choice but to eat diets which will damage their health in the long term.

The film has been published by the Food Foundation and comes after government figures last month (DWP, 2023) showed a rise in the number of children living in poverty.

The total number of children living in relative poverty (families with a household income below 60% of median income after housing costs) has risen to 4.2 million in the period April 2021 to March 2022. This represents 29% of all UK children.

The figures also show that food insecurity is rising with 21% of children who live in relative poverty (before housing costs) also living in food insecure households – a rise of 4% in a year.And 71% of all children living in relative poverty are living in working families.

And research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) also warned last month that despite 30% of families on Universal Credit being considered “food insecure”, 69% of families on Universal Credit are not eligible for free school meals (FSMs) – this equates to 1.7 million children (Cribb et al, 2023).

And the Joseph Rowntree Foundation cost of living tracker warned in January that 6 in 10 of the poorest families either cut down on or skipped meals for adults in the home because there was not enough money for food. The Food Foundation’s food insecurity tracking reports that one in four (24.4%) households with children were experiencing food insecurity in January 2023.

The Food Foundation is calling on ministers to expand and strengthen what it calls “nutritional safety net schemes” including FSMs and Healthy Start which is a means-tested programme which targets pregnant women and children under-4 with payments to support basic nutrition.

It wants to see a government department given responsibility for tackling food insecurity, including a named minister. The charity is also calling on retailers to do more to support access to healthy essentials.

The Food Foundation’s on-going Feed the Future campaign is pushing for all families on Universal Credit to be given access to FSMs. It is estimated that 800,000 children living in poverty are still not eligible.