Disabled households more likely to be food insecure

2 mins read

Tuesday 15 February 2022

Households “limited a lot” by disability are approximately five times more likely to go without food, according to new data from the Food Foundation published this week.

Households “limited a lot” by disability are approximately five times more likely to go without food, according to new data from the Food Foundation published this week.

This is the same proportion – five times – that people on Universal Credit are more likely to experience food insecurity.

Overall, the Food Foundation says that 8.8 million households are food insecure. The situation has worsened since the charity’s last survey in July 2021, showing the consequences of rising energy and food costs and the impact of removing the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

Una Summerson, Contact’s Head of Policy, says: “The Food Foundation’s report draws attention to a situation we know hits families with disabled children harder than many.

“Our own Counting the Costs survey found that 10% of the families we support used a food bank for the first time during the pandemic. Almost half of families reported a devastating drop in household income of £48 a week – or £2,500 a year. And that’s before the Universal Credit £20 uplift ended on 6 October 2021.”

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