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UCL study highlights the realities of food poverty in 21st century Europe

A detailed study of low-income families living in and around London, Lisbon and Oslo is shining a light on the far-reaching impacts of food poverty on the lives of those most affected by global crises

Kitchen cupboard with few items on the shelves.

14 June 2022

Food poverty affects millions of low-income families across Europe. For the individuals concerned, its consequences go beyond the amount of food they eat, impacting their health, social interactions and life opportunities.

To help shape national policies on supporting vulnerable families, an international team led by researchers at the UCL Institute of Education’s Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) set out to understand how food poverty shapes and limits children’s and families’ lives.

Their research examined the extent of food insecurity for low-income families in three countries following the 2008 financial crisis.

“We began the study following the 2008 financial crisis when increasing numbers of families were accessing food banks, but its findings still resonate in 2022 as living costs spiral upwards and more people in the UK face poverty”

In the UK and Portugal, the governments of which had imposed austerity policies, food insecurity increased, especially for families in poverty. In Norway, which was least affected by the financial crisis, some families still experienced food insecurity despite the benefits of its welfare state.

“We began the study following the 2008 financial crisis when increasing numbers of families were accessing food banks,” says Dr O’Connell (TCRU), the study’s Principal Investigator, “but its findings still resonate in 2022 as living costs spiral upwards and more people in the UK face poverty.”

Through their quantitative research, the team found that between 2005 and 2016, poverty rates were generally highest among families in Portugal, but rates of food insecurity were highest among families in the UK, especially among lone-parent families, even after adjusting for low income.

The study’s detailed qualitative research examined the social processes underlying these patterns of food poverty, addressing how parents – usually mothers – and children got by, the implications of low income for their food practices, and how they made sense of their experiences.

The study demonstrates that low income has major effects on mothers’ and children’s social interactions involving food and leaves them isolated and excluded from customary ways of eating and living. It also highlights how gender, ethnicity and migration status intersect in ways that put particular groups of children and parents at greater risk of food poverty.

The research is published in the book Families and Food in Hard Times, by Dr O’Connell and Professor Julia Brannen (TCRU).

It has contributed to the evidence supporting a successful campaign to extend free school meal provision to migrant families who have no recourse to public funds and has led to the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham extending its free school meal provision.

Families and Food in Hard Times is published by UCL Press as an open-access pdf.


Image credit: Abigail Knight