One in four people in Greater Manchester have admitted cutting back or skipping meals due to the soaring cost of living, according to research published today.
It comes as a new cost-of-living hub was launched across the city-region to help those struggling, with Andy Burnham pledging to use his mayoral fund to provide support to children and young people in immediate need of food.
At a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) last week, local leaders from the 10 districts and the Mayor all raised concerns from residents about increasing pressures brought on by food and fuel costs - with energy bills predicted to soar to more than £3,300 on average this October.
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Greater Manchester’s own Residents’ Survey, last carried out in March and April, found that more than two thirds of people cite finance as a current concern, with economic challenges likely to have a greater impact on younger respondents and those from racially minoritized communities. A third of people said there were times over the past year when they couldn’t afford to eat a balanced meal, while a quarter said someone in their household had cut back on meals or skipped them entirely.
The region has also seen a rise in the number of children and young people eligible for free school meals. Data shows that 132,000 school pupils currently qualify - approximately 28pc of all pupils and substantially higher than the national rate of 22.5pc.
Following the success of the Emergency Food Card Initiative, which has seen over 12,500 cards distributed to support children and who need immediate access to good quality food, Andy Burnham has pledged additional funds from the Mayoral fund to provide an extra 220 pre-paid cards to each council area. Each card, which can be used in a range of supermarkets or PayPoint Networks, will be charged with £5 credit to enable young people in need to access to emergency food, fuel, or mobile top-ups over the summer holidays.
A donation page has also been set up, managed by charity Forever Manchester, to help children and young people who need access to food over the school holidays, and can be found at No Child Should Go Hungry Fund - JustGiving.
Leader of Oldham Council and GMCA lead for Equalities, Inclusion and Cohesion, Amanda Chadderton has been appointed to lead the city's response to the crisis, with a new online resource hub launched to help residents with food bills, energy, childcare costs, pension credit top-up, transport costs, mental health and well-being. It will also signpost people to local authorities and national support where needed.
Mr Burnham said: "There is no greater or more urgent challenge facing us right now than the cost-of-living crisis. Millions of people already struggle to make ends meet, and there is a growing risk that many more will be pushed into poverty when energy bills rise this autumn.
“Leaders in all of our 10 boroughs can see the situation deteriorating before our eyes. We’ve heard from residents who are feeling the weight of pressures unlike anything they’ve seen before. All of this is compounding the stresses of the pandemic, which hit more deprived areas harder and exacerbated existing inequalities.
"We are constantly looking at everything we can do at a Greater Manchester level to help the increasing numbers of people in, or at risk of, food and fuel poverty. The measures we’re announcing today are a small part of that response, but we know it will take a concentrated and constant effort from us all to meet this challenge.
"We will continue to act wherever we can throughout the rest of this year, and call on the Government, and the new Prime Minister, to work with us to help communities here in Greater Manchester. Our message is clear: there is no more time to waste."
Cllr Amanda Chadderton, GMCA Lead for Equalities, Inclusion and Cohesion, said: "It’s clear to all of us in Greater Manchester that the cost-of-living crisis is the biggest issue facing our residents right now, and we’re facing an even more challenging winter ahead.
"It is appalling that in 2022, in this country, a lot of our residents have to choose whether to heat or to eat. What we’re going to see over the next two years is more people falling into poverty, in communities already scarred by entrenched deprivation and the impact of the pandemic. It’s incumbent on all of us to act, and act quickly, as we go through the rest of this year to tackle this crisis head-on."
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