Growth in UK children living in households with food insecurity

In March 2024, the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reported new data on household food insecurity for 2022-23 as part of its official statistics on poverty.1 Food insecurity, as measured by routinely used survey instruments, is a sensitive indicator of material poverty, capturing households’ experiences of not always having enough food, or not being certain of this, because of a lack of money. As it focuses on a basic requirement—always having enough to eat—food insecurity is a simple and validated measure of access to an undeniable need and human right.

The latest data show the alarming reality faced by children in the UK: an average of 2.4 million children a month (or 17% of all children) were living in food insecure homes during 2022-23.1 An additional 10% were living in homes with marginal food security. These figures, collated with reference to experiences over 30 days, reflected a rise of almost a million more children living in homes with marginal food security or worse since 2019-20.

Although comparisons among …