Nearly one in four families with children under the age of five are experiencing food poverty, according to new research by the Education Policy Institute (EPI). The study highlights the heightened vulnerability of younger children to food insecurity, with rates escalating to 50% in single-parent households. In comparison, food poverty affects 19% of households with children aged five to 17.
The research defines food poverty as situations in which families face difficulties such as skipping meals, eating less than necessary, or losing weight due to insufficient funds for food. Dr. Kerris Cooper, EPI’s associate director of early years and inequalities and co-author of the study, expressed concern over the findings, describing the levels of food poverty among young children as “shockingly high.” She pointed out that policy attention has largely concentrated on school-aged children, partly due to increased efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure access to free school meals.
Dr. Cooper noted that pre-school children remain particularly at risk because they are not eligible for free school meals, emphasizing the need for greater policy focus on this age group. The study points to recent policy measures aimed at school-age children, such as the upcoming extension of free school meals for all children in families receiving Universal Credit, which is set to take effect next month. The EPI advocates expanding similar support to disadvantaged pre-school children, including proposals to broaden the Healthy Start Scheme to cover four-year-olds and non-British children living in households with no recourse to public funds.
Sophie Livingstone MBE, chief executive of Little Village UK and chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, stressed that food poverty reflects broader income inadequacy. She urged the government to prioritize reducing child poverty within its forthcoming 10-Year Plan for Britain, underscoring that providing meals alone is insufficient without addressing family income levels.
Healthcare professionals also emphasized the developmental consequences of food insecurity. Dr. Helen Stewart, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, warned that inadequate nutrition impairs children’s growth and development, affecting their readiness to begin school and engage in learning. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, highlighted the importance of proper nutrition in early childhood for physical and social development in both home and pre-school environments.
A government spokesperson acknowledged the challenges of child poverty and outlined recent actions, including the removal of the two-child limit on benefits—which is expected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty—the raising of the national living wage, and the allocation of over £1 billion to extend free school meals to all families on Universal Credit.