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One in five schools now operating food banks as cost of living bites

Poverty School food Vulnerable children Interventions Closing the gap
There are now more food banks being operated in schools than outside them as increasing numbers of families face food insecurity.
Essential support: A secondary school store cupboard for tinned foods, cereal, baby food, toilet roll, and nappies used to create parcels for families of pupils in need (image: William Baker/University of Bristol)

One in five schools are now running a food bank, equating to around 4,250 across England. This compares to around 2,800 community food banks being operated by organisations such as the Trussell Trust and the Independent Food Aid Network.

A research report from the University of Bristol (Baker et al, 2024) also reveals that school-based food banks are being established disproportionately in areas of deprivation.

While nationwide, 21% of schools now operate a food bank according to the research, this rises to 33% in deprived areas.

The report states: “This shows the sheer scale of charitable food aid provision in England’s schools.”

The latest poverty statistics show that in 2022/23, 4.3 million children (30%) were living in relative poverty (60% of median income after housing costs) – the highest number since records began in 1994. Of these, 3.6 million (25%) were living in absolute poverty (with an income 60% below the 2011 median).

Both figures are an increase on 2021/22 (see DWP, 2024; Francis-Devine, 2024).

The government figures also show that increasing numbers of children in the UK are in food insecure households – 17% of all children in 2022/23 compared to 12% a year before. They also show that 30% of children living in poverty now live in food insecure households (DWP, 2024).

However, the Bristol report draws on wider research evidence, including from the Food Foundation, to suggest that one million children experienced destitution in the UK in 2022 and an estimated three million were living in food insecure households.

What is clear is that things are getting worse and the report’s lead author Dr William Baker, a senior lecturer at the University of Bristol School of Education, is calling for reform from policy-makers, including “an overhaul of the social security system”.

He says that policy-makers are “largely unaware” of the nature and scale of the problem. The report adds: “There is very little awareness of the growth of food banks in schools by policy-makers. This is clearly an important development that is having an impact on schools and the families they serve. However, there is currently an absence of policy debate, guidance or policy-making relating to charitable food aid in schools.”

Dr Baker said: “There is a policy vacuum around charitable food aid in schools in England and across the UK. Although much attention has been given to free school meal provision, the pressing wider problem of children going hungry routinely at home due to rocketing food costs and other budget pressures, such as fuel prices and interest rates, isn’t being properly addressed.”

Research last year from Dr Baker discovered a range of different food bank operations in schools, from discreet food parcels funded by staff donations to “help yourself” stalls or sheds to larger scale, well-advertised provision (see our report here).

And Dr Baker has found schools offering more than just food with household products, including soap and washing powder, as well as essential children’s clothes such as clothing and footwear. Some schools were even offering a free laundry service.

Dr Baker added: “I’ll never forget the stark image of dozens of boxes of new school shoes, bought out of school funds, stacked up ready for distribution as if this was business as usual.”

 

Commonplace: A table in a primary school for food donations from parents to be distributed to families in need (image: William Baker/University of Bristol)

 

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, commenting on the findings, said that he is also hearing increasingly from school leaders who have set up food banks and who are “dipping into their own pockets to help families with food, clothing and learning resources”.

He continued: "While schools do a great deal to try to mitigate the effects of disadvantage upon their pupils, they are not a replacement for a fully functioning social care system and cannot address the underlying drivers of poverty nor nullify all the impacts it has on children’s lives.

“The government hasn’t done nearly enough to support children’s recovery from the pandemic, tackle the root causes of poverty, or properly invest in social care, family support and mental health services, which have all been under-funded over the last decade.”

Dr Baker added: “In recent years inflation has sent the cost of essentials spiralling, while other forms of state support have withered due to swingeing cutbacks. Schools are on the frontline in responding to food poverty and many are offering crisis services to struggling families.

“Teachers and support staff see the devastating effects of poverty and the cost-of-living crisis daily, so they have felt compelled to act. The result is a flourishing patchwork of food banks, pantries, and food clubs, which have become well-established, are often highly organised operations distributing more than just food and are an indictment of this country’s retreating welfare state.

“The fact schools are running food banks en masse is falling under the radar with no national support, guidance, or oversight. Food charity is not the solution: people need secure, fairly-remunerated jobs, and support through the benefits system so they can afford to properly feed and clothe their kids.”