Get emergency foodOver the last fortnight the UK government has used two key moments to set out their plan to drive down poverty and tackle hunger and hardship. Both the Autumn Budget and the Child Poverty Strategy acknowledge the wide-reaching individual, societal and economic costs of growing up and living in poverty, and take important steps towards a better future for thousands of children across the UK.
Moving towards an effective safety net
Hunger has risen. More than 14 million people – including 3.8 million children – faced hunger in the UK last year because they didn’t have enough money for food. This is a significant increase compared to just two years ago.
Right now, the social security system isn’t acting as an effective safety net and policies like the two-child limit have been forcing hundreds of thousands of households into poverty. This pushes opportunity, good work, and a healthy life out of reach for the children affected. Last year nearly three in 10 emergency food parcels (29%) were provided for families with three or more children by our community of food banks.
At Trussell, we are delighted that the UK government has lifted the cruel two-child limit – now families with three or more children will receive an extra child element payment for each additional child. This will pull 470,000 children out of severe hunger and hardship by 2027 and will help to ease pressure on food banks.
In addition to this, the amount of money parents can reclaim for their childcare costs through Universal Credit will be increased, and the Child Poverty Strategy sets out new plans to provide upfront childcare costs for parents returning to work from parental leave. Together these changes will enable more parents to engage with employment opportunities and reduce the number of parents forced into hardship because of high childcare costs.
Sadly, no action was taken to amend the Benefit Cap, which restricts the overall amount of social security out of work households can receive. This means 141,000 children will still be trapped in poverty and won’t see the impact of lifting the two-child limit. Implementing a Protected Minimum Floor in Universal Credit, which limits the amount that can be deducted from social security payments to 15% of the Standard Allowance, would turbo charge the positive impact of ending the two-child limit, and lift 500,000 children out of poverty and reduced the depth of poverty for a further 1 million.
A boosted employment support offer for young people as part of the Youth Guarantee is positive news. If this support is tailored, holistic and voluntary, it could be transformative. However, the Child Poverty Strategy highlighted that work is no longer a certain route out of poverty – something we see increasingly at food banks in the Trussell community: three in 10 (30%) people referred to food banks in 2024 were in working households, an increase from 2022 (24%).
A mixed bag for housing
A lack of affordable and secure housing drives up homelessness and pushes people into temporary accommodation and to the doors of food banks. Forty-one percent of people referred to food banks in 2024 were currently homeless or had experienced homelessness in the previous year – up from 36% in 2022.
Private rents have risen at record rates since the cost-of-living crisis, piling pressure on low-income households. The impact of rising rents is made worse by the failure of housing benefit to cover the cost of rent for many people on low incomes living in the private rented sector. Half (50%) of private renters receiving social security support for housing payments experienced food insecurity in 2024.
To help tackle the sharpest end of the housing crisis, the Child Poverty Strategy introduces £8 million in funding for pilot schemes to end the unlawful placement of families in temporary accommodation for more than six weeks, and will no longer allow hospitals to discharge newborn babies into bed and breakfasts or other unsuitable shared accommodation. The Child Poverty Strategy also includes a new legal duty on councils to notify schools, health visitors, and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, so that children can get the support they need during a difficult and disruptive time.
Another positive change announced at the Budget is an earned income disregard in Housing Benefit. Currently, once a young person living in Supported Accommodation works 13 hours at the minimum wage for a 21 to 22-year-old, their Housing Benefit support for their rent is suddenly withdrawn, and they become worse off than if they had worked less and kept their Housing Benefit. Now people living in supported housing and temporary accommodation will be able to keep more of their earnings as they increase their hours.
Unfortunately, there was no commitment to uprate the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) for housing benefits, meaning the gap between the amount of support people can receive and the cost of their actual rents will widen. Without re-establishing the link between LHA and actual rents to cover at least the cheapest 30% of properties, increasing numbers of people will be forced to turn to food banks as they are unable to afford rent and other essential costs, and ultimately many will be pushed into homelessness and temporary accommodation.
If LHA remains frozen over the course of this parliament, on average, private renters on housing benefits will be around £700 worse off per year by 2029. Fifty thousand renters will be pulled into poverty; 60,000 will be pushed into deep poverty; and 80,000 (including 30,000 children) will be pushed into very deep poverty.
Cost of living measures
Other welcome cost of living measures announced at the Budget include reductions to energy bills, increases to Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage (worth around £900 a year), and freezes for rail fares, the bus fare cap, and NHS prescription charges in England. However, several of these cost-of-living measures are set to end after just one year.
Previously announced expansions of Free School Meals for children in families receiving Universal Credit and breakfast clubs will provide welcome relief for many families struggling to afford the basics. As will increases to the value of Healthy Start vouches, and changes to allow baby formular to be purchased with loyalty points and vouchers.
A new three-year Crisis and Resilience Fund (see our recommendations) was also previously announced. This will enable local authorities in England to support people facing immediate financial hardship and will help households strengthen their financial resilience from April 2026. The commitment to multi-year funding is extremely welcome. This kind of investment will provide a lifeline to people when they are struggling with the cost of living, give people a more secure financial footing in the future, and will reduce the need for emergency food when people face a crisis.
Political decisions can turn the tide on hardship
Overall, the positive measures announced will make vital and significant contributions towards delivering on the government’s manifesto commitments to end the need for emergency food and reduce child poverty – particularly the ending of the two-child limit. These decisions show that with political will it is possible to make decisions which significantly reduce the number of people forced to turn to food banks.
Our evidence is clear that many people will still struggle to afford the essentials and food bank need remains well above levels five years ago. We need to continue to see bold choices to transform lives across our communities and put an end to hunger and hardship. Every child deserves the best start in life and that begins with ensuring families can afford the essentials we all need to survive – like food, heating and toiletries.