Overview

• About 3.8 million children—27%—lived in food-insecure households, with 31% of under-fives affected.
• Food insecurity rose from an estimated 11.6 million people in 2022 to 14.1 million in 2024.
• Paid work no longer guaranteed food security, with 30% of people referred to food banks coming from working households.
• Rates were highest in the North West (26%), North East (23%) and Northern Ireland (21%), and lowest in Yorkshire and Humberside (10%).
• Trussell urges scrapping the two-child benefit cap and ending the housing allowance freeze, as the DWP points to a £1bn crisis fund, wider free school meals and a strategy due this autumn.