One in three universal credit claimants have missed meals in the last month because they couldn't afford food, a new report claims. Two in five, meanwhile, say they have been forced into debt due to their benefits not keeping up with the cost of living.
The report is from the Trussell Trust, a food bank charity that commissioned YouGov to poll universal credit claimants. In an set of responses, it found:
One in six (17 per cent) people who receive universal credit needed to visit a food bank at least once since the start of December
Two in five (40 per cent) have been forced into debt this winter just to eat and pay bills
One in three (33 per cent) had more than one day in the last month where they didn’t eat at all or had only one meal
One in three people (33 per cent) have not been able to heat their home for more than four days across the last month
