The number of people using food banks to make end meet has skyrocketed this year, according to new figures released today by the Trussell Trust.
The number of people using food banks to make end meet has skyrocketed this year, according to new figures released today by the Trussell Trust.
346,992 people received a minimum of three days emergency food from Trussell Trust food banks in 2012-13, compared to 128,697 in 2011-12 and 40,898 when Labour left office in 2010. Of those helped in 2012-13, 126,889 (36.6 per cent) were children.
Labour’s shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh called the figures “shocking”.
“The UK is the seventh richest country in the world yet under David Cameron’s leadership, we are facing a cost of living crisis and growing epidemic of hidden hunger, with some people increasingly unable to meet their family’s basic needs…This incompetent Tory-led Government needs to wake up to the human cost of their failed economic policies and change course now.”
The graph below charts the rise of food bank use and its explosion under the coalition.
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20 Responses to “Coalition presides over shocking increase in number of people using food banks”
Dave Pleb Murphy
Um, the math is a bit off here, and using percentages here doesn’t really make your point well.
Increase under 3 years of coalition = ((346992 – 40898)/40898)*100 = 748.43% so the 1000% figure is wrong.
Increase over the whole graph = ((346992 – 2814)/2814)*100 = 12230.91% which is, I suspect ,where someone got the over 1000% figure from but clearly the decimal is in the wrong place.
Obviously there’s a serious problem though, that much is clear from just looking at the graph. Running up the same figures with year on year percentages and a 3 year rolling average tells us that the use of foodbanks has accelerated dramatically under the coalition.
Have a look at https://docs.google.com/a/portsmouthcommunity.org/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmJb4QZy2xd8dFB3ZEZ6aDRhWFdVQUlyQkZTRHgyZFE#gid=0
The high rate with the early figures may well be a result of fairly low usage – it takes a much lower increase to look like a massive percentage change. It’s hard to say without earlier figures.
As others have pointed out, this is a complex situation and the DWP are attempting to dismiss these figures as caused by JCP referring people to foodbanks (wtf!?) and rising public awareness of their availability. Neither of those “explanations” explain why we have rising food poverty in one of the richest countries on earth.
It’s also worth pointing out that these figures take no account of food aid from friends, family, and foodbanks not associated with The Trussell Trust. I dread to think what the real figures might be.
mikeknoth
under no otjer government than scameron’s dodgycoalition
tomfrom66
Under the terms of the New Feudalism, which no party can fully counteract as power has been surrendered by national governments to an amorphous blob called the global ‘free’ markets, for the benefit of which governments now govern
realone
no looby. The government should have no role in helping the poor. That is for good people like you to take on directly. Where do you think the government gets it’s money to “help” poor people? You! Don’t you think you could use your money more effectively? You seem to already distrust the government. Why trust them with this important responsibility?
realone
no looby. The government should have no role in helping the poor. That is for good people like you to take on directly. Where do you think the government gets it’s money to “help” poor people? You! Don’t you think you could use your money more effectively? You seem to already distrust the government. Why trust them with this important responsibility?