Who is experiencing food insecurity in the UK?

The number of people in ‘food insecure’ households rose to 7.2 million in 2022/23, an increase of 2.5 million people since 2021/22, according to data on households that have below average incomes from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). 

The percentage of people in food insecure households went from 7% in 2021/22 to 11% in 2022/23. 

This Insight discusses why food insecurity has risen and which groups are most likely to not have food security.

What is food insecurity? 

Household food insecurity is defined in broadly the same way across several countries and split into two categories:  

• ‘Low food security’ means that the household reduces the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets. 
• ‘Very low food security’ means that household members sometimes disrupt their eating patterns or reduce their food intake because they lack money or other resources for food. 

This definition is based on the Household Food Security Survey Module, developed by the US Department of Agriculture. 

Section 14 of the Library briefing Poverty in the UK: statistics provides more information and statistics on food insecurity. 

Why has food insecurity increased?  

The main reason for an increase in food insecurity was a sharp increase in food prices in 2022/23. 

Food prices began to rise in 2022 and food and drink inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached a peak of 19.1% in March 2023, as shown in the chart below. 

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows this was the highest rate since 1977.

Low-income households were particularly affected by the rise in food prices, since a bigger proportion of their spending goes on essentials. These households are more likely to experience food insecurity as a result. 

In 2021/22, households with the lowest 10% of incomes spent 15% of their overall spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks.  

Households with the highest 10% of incomes spent 9.2% on these products. 

Low-income households are also more likely to already choose the cheapest food items, so do not have the option to switch when prices rise.  

 Who is most likely to experience food insecurity? 

Since food insecurity in the UK is mostly due to households not being able to afford food, groups which are more likely to have low incomes are also more likely to be food insecure.  

Children are more likely than adults to be in food insecure households 

In 2022/23, 17% of children, 11% of working-age adults and 3% of pensioners were in food insecure households. 

However, not everyone in a food insecure household experiences it directly. The Child Poverty Action Group reports that children in these households do not always have insufficient food, as parents often skip meals to make sure their children are fed. 

Disabled people are more likely to experience food insecurity 

18% of disabled people lived in a food insecure household compared with 9% of people who were not disabled in 2022/23.  

The DWP data also shows that families in which someone is disabled are more likely to live with food insecurity. As shown in the chart below, 18% of people in families where someone is disabled were in a food insecure household, compared with 7% of people in families where nobody was disabled. (Totals may not match the chart figures here and below due to rounding.) 

People in families where nobody works are more likely to experience food insecurity 

Families in which everyone is out of work are much more likely to have a low household income and more likely to experience food insecurity. 

17% of people in families where nobody worked were in food insecure households in 2022/23, compared with 9% of people in families where at least one adult worked.  

Food insecurity varies substantially by ethnic group 

In the DWP’s data, the ethnic group of the household is determined by the ‘household reference person’. This is usually the person in whose name the accommodation is owned or rented, or the person in the household with the highest income. 

The data in the chart below is for broad ethnic groups and is a three-year average of 2020/21 to 2022/23. Small sample sizes mean that data for more detailed ethnic groups would not be reliable. 

People in a household from a Black/African/Caribbean/Black British ethnic group were most likely to experience food insecurity (21%), followed by people in a household where the reference person was from a Mixed or multiple ethnic groups (19%). 

The North East and North West have the highest rates of food insecurity 

12% of people in the North East and the North West of England were in food insecure households in 2022/23. Northern Ireland had the lowest rate of people in food insecure households at 6%. 

Over a quarter of households in social rented accommodation experience food insecurity 

Social rented sector tenants (people who rent from councils or housing associations) were much more likely to be in food insecure households (27%). This compares with 14% of private renters in food insecure households. 

The proportion of those in food insecure households was lowest among those who owned their home outright (without a mortgage), at 2%. This is partly why the rate of food insecurity is so low among pensioners; a large proportion of pensioners own their home outright. 

More people are using food banks

The rise in household food insecurity has been mirrored with a rise in food bank use.  

According to the DWP data, in 2022/23, 3% of the UK population had used a food bank in the previous 12 months, the same rate as in 2021/22. 

However, the Trussell Trust, a food bank charity which is estimated to run around 60% of food banks in the UK, reported that between April and September 2023 it provided 1.5 million emergency food parcels, a record high for this period, and a 16% increase from the same period in 2022. 65% of these parcels were for families with children.

About the author: Brigid Francis-Devine is a researcher at the House of Commons Library specialising in poverty. 

Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash