This is a significant increase compared to the first round of research in 2022, which found one in seven (14%) households or 11.6 million people were facing hunger in the UK.
The Trussell Trust has warned that without ‘urgent action’ to boost incomes in the Autumn Budget, this severe hardship risks becoming the new normal for millions of households.
Young children are particularly badly affected, with one in three (31%) children under five growing up in a food insecure household. More than a quarter (27%) of disabled people experience food insecurity.
Over half (52%) of people receiving universal credit experienced hunger in the last year and almost a quarter (23%) had to access a food bank or other charitable food provision.
A spokesperson for the Trussell Trust said: “The UK Government’s forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy is a golden opportunity to reduce the number of children facing hunger and living in severe hardship.
“There are sensible funding proposals and routes to maintain fiscal credibility while still delivering ambitious changes to turn the tide on hunger, including much needed updates to our social security system. We must also remember that severe hardship in the UK is costing our public services, the economy, and the public purse to the tune of over £75 billion a year.”