Disability and food banks: the basic rate of support isn't enough

25 years ago, food banks were pretty much unheard of in the UK. Now there are over 1,300 food bank centres in the Trussell Trust network alone who, between April 2021 and March 2022, distributed more than 2.1 million food parcels. That’s an alarming 81% increase from the same period five years ago. This cannot be right.

With two in three (66%) households referred to a food bank in early 2020 including one or more disabled people, and as the cost of living crisis rages on, the Trussell Trust predicts that disabled people are amongst some who are most likely to be impacted.

Steve’s story

Steve was working in security when he suffered a serious back injury that has affected his health ever since. He needed support from a food bank when he first started receiving benefit support because the basic rate couldn’t cover the cost of his rent.

“In 2009 I got a serious back injury while working in security and was off work for four months as a result. As my pay would then drop to half pay, I had no option but to return although I wasn't quite healed. Standing all day didn't help and although I managed to switch to a different role, my body was still in lots of discomfort and pain.

“Around that time, I also got diagnosed with fibromyalgia – a chronic pain condition - so my health wouldn’t allow me to go back to work. I started receiving basic rate Employment and Support Allowance which supports people with living costs if they are unable to work and/or have disability.”

Living with the stigma of social security

“There is a stigma around people not working and/or if they need benefits. When you talk to people, the questions they ask are what’s your name, where are you from and what do you do. It can make you think ‘well, I don’t do anything’ - but I am far more than a job title.

“The basic rate of support I was getting wasn't enough to live on – I wasn’t able to cover the rent for my studio flat in Hammersmith, and it took a good part of a year before I was assessed properly and the exact amount I should receive was decided based on my health. That’s when I went to the food bank.

"It felt embarrassing to need to ask for food, which is a basic need. It might even have been as strong an emotion as humiliation as I suffered badly with anxiety so if anyone found out then I thought it would be the end of the world! In reality, I was greeted by some friendly volunteers; I was struck how lovely all the team were and that there wasn't any judgement but compassion and empathy.”

The power of volunteering

“By the end of the summer, I was getting more support and starting to get back on my feet, and I had a great respect for the food bank. It made me realise that I wanted to make that kind of difference to others too. So, I started volunteering by helping at the café - where people can have a cup of tea and talk to the volunteers. I hadn't realised how important talking to people was until then. I’m somebody to ask how they are and have an interest in them. Helping them helped me.”

“I want people to understand that, overnight, life can change with one simple accident. People want to put the blame onto the person who is suffering. Especially with disability, there is ableism. We must have a disability because of this and that, it can’t just happen to people.”

The cost of living crisis is forcing people into impossible decisions

We know that hunger in the UK isn’t about food. It’s about people not having enough money for the essentials we all need in life and having to face impossible decisions like Steve did.

That’s why it’s so important we have a strong and stable social security system that can act as a lifeline when people need it. We welcomed the Chancellor’s recent investment in social security, including specific support for disabled people, to help ease the worst of the cost of living crisis – this was urgently needed. But if we’re to turn the rising tide of food bank need in the long-term, this can’t be a one-off.