UK’s food insecurity has resulted in millions of people skipping meals for a whole day, a new study showed. The situation was already deteriorating in the past few months and was made worse by the cost of living crisis in the country, a report by the Food Foundation charity said.
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After supply chains were severely impacted amid the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UK faced growing inflation owing to which one out of five low-income families faced scarcity of food, the report said.
The report further showed that 18 percent of households were forced to reduce their food consumption in September while six percent ended without any food for an entire day making it the worst food insecurity that the UK has experienced since the start of 2022.
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Amid the crisis, children have also suffered extremely, the report showed as demands have been raised to provide free meals to children from vulnerable families.
“The situation is appalling and getting so much worse. We call on the government to urgently extend eligibility for free school meals to all families receiving universal credit, so that support reaches the kids who need it most,” charity’s chief executive, Naomi Duncan told Guardian.
UK inflation is back into double digits in September as the Consumer Prices Index rose 10.1% last month from 9.9% the month before, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday, therefore, matched a 40-year high reached in July.
