Tag Archives: Food poverty

What’s driving the rise of food banks?

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By James Carson

In 2011, the Trussell Trust, a charity providing food aid across the UK was operating around 100 food banks. By the end of last year, that figure had risen to over 400.

The government standpoint

Food aid has become a divisive issue, largely because of disagreements about what’s behind the increased demand for emergency food aid. Last month, Priti Patel, employment minister at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told the House of Commons that she did not accept claims by researchers that benefits sanctions could drive people to seek emergency food aid:

“There is no robust evidence that directly links sanctions and food bank use.”

Her contention is consistent with claims made under the coalition government. In February 2014, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, suggested to the House of Commons that it was not welfare reform but greater awareness of food aid, that was increasing use of food aid:

“Food banks do a good service, but they have been much in the news. People know they are free. They know about them and they will ask social workers to refer them. It would be wrong to pretend that the mass of publicity has not also been a driver in their increased use.”

What does the research say?

The DWP position is at odds with research looking at food banks in an effort to explain their increasing use.

A 2014 report from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) identified a number of factors driving people to use food banks. These include loss of earnings and changes in personal circumstances (such as bereavement and homelessness). But the report highlighted problems with benefits (notably delays and sanctions) as a significant factor causing people to seek emergency food aid.

In addition, first-hand accounts from those managing and working in food banks have strengthened the claim that there is a correlation between welfare reforms and increasing use of food banks.

In 2013, Ewan Gurr from the Trussell Trust told the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee that the number of people using food banks in Scotland had risen from 5,726 in 2011-12 to 14,318 in 2012-13. And he was unambiguous in identifying the main reason for this dramatic increase:

“We are seeing evidence every day, right across our food bank network, that welfare reforms are inextricably linked to the rise in demand for emergency food relief.

In December 2014, the Church of England published its report on food poverty in the UK.

While the report acknowledged that benefits sanctions do not always represent the sole reason claimants turn to food banks, it observed that reduction and delays in benefits has meant families living on low incomes are worse off in the long term:

“There is a clear moral case to address the shortcomings that exist in our welfare system.”

The human impact

The impact of food poverty can be seen in the human stories that are often forgotten in the cut and thrust of the public debate. In March this year, a report highlighted the experiences of people around the UK trying to survive on very low incomes.

In one instance, a 57 year-old man’s benefits had been cut for 13 weeks because he failed to complete enough job applications.

“William came to the food bank in the first week of his sanction. He was given food and didn’t return until weeks 11 and 12. William was apologetic for having to come back again, but said that his tea, sugar and other basics had now run out. We spoke to him, to find out how he’d managed. He said he’d cut down on the amount he ate, and that the mild winter meant he had managed without heating.”

For those of us who thought food poverty was a bitter memory of a bygone era, the very existence of food banks is hard to stomach.  As the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee concluded:

“They are a sign of a Dickensian model of welfare which should have no place in a prosperous nation. Ultimately the necessity for food banks should be eliminated.”

With the exponential growth of food banks across the country, that aspiration is unlikely to be realised any time soon.

The Idox Information Service can give you access to a wealth of further information on poverty and social exclusion – to find out more on how to become a member, contact us.

Further reading*

How can households eat in austerity? Challenges for social policy in the UK, IN Social Policy and Society

Food bank provision for families in North Nottinghamshire

A survey of food bank operations in five Canadian cities, IN BMC Public Health

The increasing demand for emergency food aid in the UK (SPICe briefing 14/46)

Below the breadline: the relentless rise of food poverty in Britain

*Some resources may only be available to members of the Idox Information Service

Brain food: the impact of breakfast on children’s educational attainment

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By Stacey Dingwall

In the wake of the recession, food poverty and the rising number of foodbanks in the UK have frequently been in the headlines. At the other end of the spectrum, another nutrition-related issue that tends to be picked up on regularly by the media is child obesity. However, in a report released to coincide with their annual conference in May of this year, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) called attention to a concern that has not been as headline-grabbing: schools are now providing a great deal of welfare support to pupils that goes above and beyond their usual remit, including teachers bringing in food from home for pupils who have been sent to school hungry.

Hunger in the classroom

These findings echo those reported by the cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s in 2013. Based on a survey of over 700 teachers in England and Wales, A lost education: the reality of hunger in the classroom suggested that:

  • On average, 2.4 children in England and Wales were arriving to school hungry on at least one occasion per week;
  • 28% of teachers reported an increase in the number of children arriving to school hungry;
  • 31% of teachers indicated that they had to spend a disproportionately higher amount of time with children who arrived at school hungry than those who did not;
  • 51% suggested that hunger is a significant factor in the exam performance of pupils; and
  • if a child arrives at school hungry, teachers estimated that they would lose an hour of learning time that day; for those that come to school without breakfast once a week, this equates to 8.4 weeks of learning time (70% of a term) over the course of their entire primary school career.

Empty stomachs, empty brains?

The findings of a literature review, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in 2013, of the effects that eating breakfast has on children’s behaviour and academic performance indicated  a “mainly positive effect of breakfast on on-task behaviour in the classroom” and highlighted evidence that frequent breakfast consumption had  a positive effect on children’s academic performance, with the clearest effects seen on mathematic and arithmetic grades. The review also noted the positive influence of school-based breakfast initiatives, more commonly known as ‘breakfast clubs’.

The impact of school breakfast clubs

As well as carrying out research on the impact of breakfast clubs, Kellogg’s operates a support network for schools to run clubs, offering grants and training materials. According to the company, 69% of the teachers they surveyed in 2013 said that running a breakfast club had had a positive impact on their ability to teach their class.

This sentiment is echoed by the School Food Trust, whose review of the impact of primary school breakfast clubs in deprived areas of London found that the average Key Stage 2 results of pupils in 13 primary schools were significantly higher a year after the introduction of the initiative. In North Lanarkshire, one primary school’s award-winning breakfast club has demonstrated the educational benefits of having children at school early, well-fed and ready to learn. While other studies of the impact of school-based breakfast initiatives have found less definitive evidence of their impact on children’s academic performance, their positive effect on pupils’ attendance and punctuality is noted, which can be no bad thing for their academic potential.

The Education Endowment Fund is currently undertaking a randomised control trial of school breakfast provision involving 36,000 pupils in 200 schools across England. The study aims to look at impact on attainment and cost-effectiveness of different models, and the evaluation report is due to be published in 2016.

Supporting breakfast clubs

Understanding the impact of nutrition on children’s outcomes is crucial if the government is to provide additional support to local authorities whose schools are providing breakfast clubs for their pupils. Although support is available from companies like Kellogg’s and Greggs, as well as charitable organisations, these are often competitive grants-based schemes, with application processes that only place further pressure on already overstretched teachers and schools. And in the face of ongoing cuts to local authority funding, many are echoing the call of the NAHT for the government to do more to support schools to cope with the consequences of the austerity agenda, as well as make the improvements that are being demanded of them.

The Idox Information Service can give you access to a wealth of further information on educational attainment – to find out more on how to become a member, contact us.

 Further reading

The School Food Plan

Examining the impact of school breakfast provision on health, wellbeing and educational engagement in a sample of schools in Blackpool: brief report (2013, Children’s Food Trust)

Effects of a free school breakfast programme on children’s attendance, academic achievement and short-term hunger: results from a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial, IN Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol 67 No 3 2013, pp257-264

A zero hunger city: tackling food poverty in London (2013, Greater London Authority)

Effects of a free school breakfast programme on children’s attendance, academic achievement and short-term hunger: results from a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial, IN Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol 67 No 3 2013, pp257-264

Averting a recipe for disaster: our children and their food (2013, Ella’s Kitchen)

Going hungry? The growth of food poverty and food banks in the UK

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storehouse food bank, southend

by Laura Dobie

Food poverty is a social issue which has been the subject of much media attention in recent weeks. The BBC 1 Sport Relief programme, Famous, rich and hungry, in which celebrities spent time with families experiencing food poverty, while controversial in its approach, has prompted concern and discussion around those who are struggling to afford life’s essentials. Continue reading →