One in seven households have adults who skip meals

The number of people struggling with the rising cost of living has risen by 57 per cent in three months, research suggests

- AISHA RIMI

One in seven adults live in homes where people have skipped meals, eaten smaller portions or gone hungry all day because they could not afford or access food, a new study suggests.

The research, conducted by the Food Foundation, found that the number of people struggling had risen by 57 per cent in three months. The charity analysed responses from 10,674 adults who were surveyed by YouGov between 22 and 2 April.

Almost 14 per cent said they or a member of their household had either eaten smaller meals than usual or skipped meals, not eaten despite being hungry, or not eaten for a full day because they could not afford or get access to food in the past month.

The results also suggest that around 7.3 million adults live in households affected by food insecurity, including 2.6 million children. This is an increase from 4.7 million adults (8.8 per cent of respondents) surveyed in January.

Half of households on universal credit have also experienced levels of food insecurity in the past six months.