Inaction on hunger and hardship is costing Wales's public services

Too many people conflate doing the right thing for people, with doing the wrong thing for the economy – but Trussell’s new research reveals that the opposite is true. The longer we don’t act on hunger and hardship, not only the worse life becomes for many people in Wales, but the more our economy and public finances pay the price.

Our major new piece of research finds that Wales’s economy and public finances could benefit by over £3.6bn each year if the government acted on hunger and hardship.

People experiencing hunger and hardship are living well below the poverty line and are likely to be using a food bank now or are at high risk of doing so in the future.

A shocking 420,000 people in Wales are facing hunger and hardship, including 110,000 children. That’s higher than the population of Cardiff.

It’s not right that so many people across our nation cannot afford the essentials we all need to get by, like food, bills and toiletries. We refuse to stand by as so many people are pushed to the brink, left without enough to live on.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Trussell’s research shows that not only is tackling hunger and hardship the right thing to do, it’s also common sense for our economy.

Wales’s economy loses out on £1.9 billion in a single year due to reduced employment and lower productivity, because of the ways hunger and hardship can harm people’s chances of gaining and sustaining employment.

The public purse also loses out on £910 million in income from taxes in Wales, while an additional £260 million is spent on social security payments. This is due to the scarring effects of severe hardship, which can push people into a cycle of hardship they cannot get out of.

Failing to tackle hunger and hardship leads to the Welsh Government spending an additional £560 million each year on public services that are devolved, such as the NHS, schools and children’s social care.

Over half of this figure (£290 million) is spent on healthcare like the NHS due to the physical and mental impacts of experiencing severe hardship.

The effects of hunger and hardship in Wales also increases spending on education by £20 million due to costs such as free school meals and missed school attendance caused by children experiencing hunger and hardship.

Not only will tackling hunger and hardship improve the lives of people across Wales, it will also alleviate pressure on Welsh-run public services, which are already stretched to breaking point. The Welsh Government must use all of its devolved powers to ensure people on the lowest incomes can at least cover the cost of essentials like food, bills and toiletries.

The basic rate of Universal Credit should at least cover the cost of essentials we all need to get by, like food and bills. But right now, it’s not even covering the cost of essentials.

That’s why we’re working with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to call for an Essentials Guarantee within Universal Credit, which means the basic rate of social security payment at least covers life’s essentials and can never be pulled below that level.

Indeed, our research finds that embedding an Essentials Guarantee into Universal Credit would ensure 138,000 fewer people in Wales would be at risk of facing hunger and hardship by 2027. This would lead to a reduction in costs to the Welsh economy, public services and for the public purse of nearly £1.5 billion.

Universal Credit is decided and delivered by the UK Government. That’s why we need to see action from the UK Government so people in Wales can afford the essentials.

We are also calling on the UK Government to rethink its cruel cuts to disability benefits, which risk pushing more disabled people to the doors of food banks.

If governments in Westminster and Cardiff fail to act, any progress on living standards, employment, economic growth and the NHS will be undermined, and we will see an increase in hunger and hardship across the nation.

There is no time to lose. The Welsh Government must move quickly to ensure hunger and hardship does not worsen on its watch. Turning this tide would have huge benefits, not just to individuals, but for us all.

trussell.org.uk