A YouGov poll commissioned by the Food Foundation also found that 2.4m of children are living in food insecure households, and two million of them have received smaller portions, a reduced number of meals and/or low-cost, less nutritious meals because their parents have run out of food.
Households struggling to access to enough food has meant more than 350,000 children have had times when they’ve not eaten enough, because there wasn’t enough food, since lockdown started.
Dame Emma Thompson, Children’s Right2Food Campaign Ambassador, said of the poll findings: “Families who were fighting to put food on the table before Covid-19 now find themselves in an impossible position: just a month of lockdown has seen 5m parents and children experience food insecurity.
“What is undeniable is that our government has yet to extend real lifelines to those who cannot afford food.
“We need emergency income support to put money in the pockets of families who are suffering, and DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] must ensure child benefit payments are increased and sufficient for alleviating the hardship so many children are enduring.”
Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, said: “Protecting our children should be a priority, but we’re leaving them behind in conversations about emergency support and they’re falling through the cracks as a result.
“Having enough nutritious food to eat is a basic right, and without it children’s mental and physical health suffers irreparably.
“The government must act now to put money in the pockets of families who are struggling so that they can buy the food they need to be healthy at home.”
The poll also found that food insecurity driven by isolation and economic hardship in households with children had doubled since lockdown came into effect, with parents in 2.8m (37%) households with children reporting a loss of income.
Half a million of the children who normally receive free school meals have received no substitute at all since schools closed. A further 130,000 children are stuck with an online code which they cannot download to redeem vouchers for buying food.
Higher levels of food insecurity were also reported by NHS workers in households with children: 17% had skipped a meal, 11% had been hungry and not eaten because of a lack of food, 9% had not eaten for a whole day and 5% said their child hadn’t eaten enough.
The Food Foundation is calling on the government to stop food insecurity driven by lack of money by implementing an emergency income support scheme to ensure people can buy the food they need to stay healthy at home.
It wants the DWP to abolish the five-week wait for Universal Credit, and child benefit to become a fortnightly payment (thereby doubling it) as well as removing the benefit cap.
Last week, the government responded to calls for a new cross-departmental ministerial task force focusing on vulnerable groups, which has now been established.