The number of people in Scotland facing hunger and hardship has reached record levels, according to a report. Research by the anti-poverty charity Trussell found that 670,000 Scots – including 170,000 children – are struggling to afford food. The charity said the number of people facing hunger and hardship today is 24% higher than it was two decades ago.
Its Cost of Hunger and Hardship report, a partnership with public policy experts WPI Economics, analysed government data to track people living “well below” the poverty line who are most at risk of using a food bank. Researchers found that around one in six (17%) children in Scotland reached this criteria. READ MORE: The UK and Scottish governments need to work together to end the need for food banks They also found that 325,000 people struggling with hardship and hunger were in a family where at least one person worked.
And 390,000 people struggling were living in a family where someone had a disability. Trussell has called on the Scottish and UK Governments to take urgent action to lift Scots out of poverty. The charity urged Westminster to introduce an essentials guarantee into Universal Credit which it said would lift 195,000 people out of hardship in Scotland.
The report said the UK Government lifting the controversial two-child benefit cap would mean 45,000 fewer children in Scotland experienced such poverty. Trussell also urged the Scottish Government to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 a week – wh.
