Citizens Advice helps record numbers as people turn to food banks amid cost of living struggles

A record number of people were helped by Citizens Advice this year due to cost of living struggles, with the charity calling it its “bleakest-ever” start to the year.

It helped a record 94,000 people with food bank referrals and access to emergency charitable grants between January and April - a 178% increase on the same period in 2020 and includes the support needed by a record number of people in work.

The charity said an average of 9,600 people were helped per day on average during this period, more than any other year on record.

Citizens Advice saw record highs on 70 different advice issues, including homelessness, food bank referrals and debt. Among them were more people who are homeless (14,300) than at any other time on record, while the number of private renters facing an eviction issue during the first four months of 2023 was 49% higher than the same period in 2020.

The charity said it saw 10 times more people seeking its help about energy bills than in 2020, as the number of people unable to afford to top up their energy prepayment meter skyrocketed.

The first quarter of 2023 also saw more people than ever facing a monthly bills deficit – meaning their income was not enough to cover their basic bills. More than half of people seeking support for debt from Citizens Advice (51.6%) were in this position, it said.

Additionally, a record 32,400 people approached the charity with energy debt in the first four months of 2023 – a 112% increase on the same period in 2020.

‘Life is getting worse, not better’

The charity said record numbers of people are checking their benefits entitlement in a bid to do everything they can to keep their heads above the water.

Government support measures, such as cost of living payments, have previously given people temporary respite and led to dips in the number of people needing support, but demand has rapidly returns to previous levels - a trend the charity says could be made worse by recent price hikes which kicked in this April, putting further pressure on people’s finances.

Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said it is a clear indication that the cost of living crisis “is far from over” and said more needs to be done to support struggling households.

She said: “The fact we’ve experienced our bleakest-ever start of the year shows the government cannot afford to turn their gaze away from the issues people are facing. Millions of people are doing everything they can but it’s still not enough.

“Too many people are living on empty, simply unable to pay their bills and put food on the table. And while staff and volunteers in local offices work tirelessly every day to help people, there’s only so much we can do.

“We can see government support helps, but more is needed in the future for struggling households. For many, life is getting worse, not better.”