Food poverty: Households, food banks and free school meals

In 2024/25, 6.0 million people, or 9% of the UK population were in households experiencing food insecurity, including 14% of children. In 2025, Trussell (previously the Trussell Trust), a charity and network of foodbanks, supplied 2.64 million emergency food parcels.

This briefing provides statistics on food poverty in the UK, including food banks and free school meals.

What is food poverty?

There is no widely accepted definition of ‘food poverty’. However, a household can broadly be defined as experiencing food poverty or ‘household food insecurity’ if they cannot (or are uncertain about whether they can) acquire “an adequate quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways”.

According to the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Households Below Average Income publication, in 2024/25, 6.0 million people (9%) in the UK were in food insecure households.

Among the 13.1 million people found to be in relative poverty after housing costs, 19% were in food insecure households, including 24% of children. People in relative poverty live in a household with income less than 60% of the contemporary median income.

Food bank use in the UK

Food banks are run by charities and are intended as a temporary provision to supply emergency food.

The DWP published statistics on food bank use for the first time in March 2023.  In 2024/25, 2.5 million people in the UK lived in household which had used a food bank in the previous 12 months, a rate of 4%. This includes 7% of children, 4% of working-age adults, and 1% of pensioners.

In 2025 Trussell supplied 2.64 million emergency food parcels, down from a record high of 3.24 million in 2023.

How the rising cost of living affects food insecurity

Food prices in the UK rose steeply from the second half of 2021. Food and non-alcoholic drink prices were 19.1% higher in the 12 months to March 2023, the highest since 1977. In August 2026, food inflation was 1.3%, but the long period of high food inflation affected households.

More households had to eat less during the period of high inflation A YouGov survey by the Food Foundation, a food poverty charity, found that in June 2026, 12.2% of households in the UK were ‘food insecure’ (ate less or went a day without eating because they couldn’t access or afford food).

In August 2026, 55% of adults in Great Britain reported an increase in their cost of living compared with the month before, according to the ONS. Of these, 94% saw the price of their food shopping go up, and 38% were spending less on essentials, including food as a result.

Free school meals in England

Who is eligible for free school meals in England?

In England, free school meals are a statutory entitlement available to families receiving one of a selection of benefits. Local authorities are responsible for providing free school meals. This is discussed further in our briefing Free school meals in England.

How many people receive free school meals in England?

In January 2026, there were around 2.2 million pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, representing 26.5% of state-funded pupils. This eligibility rate has increased particularly sharply in the last few years (since 2018) and is the highest rate recorded since the current time series began in 2006. Changing eligibility criteria mean this figure is likely to increase in the 2026/27 academic year.

This increase could be driven by many factors including macro-economic conditions, the coronavirus pandemic and the continued effect of the transitional protections during the rollout of Universal Credit.

Where do people receiving free school meals live?

The map below shows a breakdown of what proportion of children were known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) in January 2026 in different local authorities.

Source: Department for Education, Schools, pupils and their characteristics 2025/26, 4 June 2026, custom table

Do children receiving free school meals have different attainment?

On average, pupils eligible for free school meals achieve lower GCSE attainment than other pupils. This is based on achieving a “standard pass” in English and maths GCSE. In 2025, 44.0% of pupils eligible for free school meals achieved a standard pass in both English and Maths GCSE compared to 72.2% of pupils not eligible. This was an attainment gap 28.2 percentage points.