More than six in ten referred to a food bank are Disabled people

People forced to food banks at the start of the pandemic faced extreme poverty, with just £248 a month to survive on after housing costs, according to new research by the Trussell Trust. The new study also shows that over seven in ten households referred to a food bank in early 2020 had someone with ill-health or disability, four times the rate in the general population. A majority (62%) of working-age people referred to food banks in early 2020 had a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010, more than three times the rate in the general working age population (19%). People reporting poor health were six times more likely to be food insecure than people reporting ‘excellent’ health.