Demand at food banks across the United Kingdom remained at approximately double the levels recorded before the pandemic in the 2025/26 financial year, according to data from the Trussell Trust and the Independent Food Aid Network. The sustained elevation of food bank usage, now a persistent structural feature of the UK welfare landscape rather than an emergency response, reflects the lasting damage inflicted on household finances by the cost of living crisis that began in 2021.
The Trussell Trust, which operates the UK's largest food bank network, reported that despite a slight improvement in the pace of increase compared to the previous year — reflecting the partial easing of inflation that occurred during 2024 and early 2025 — the absolute number of emergency food parcels distributed remained at historically high levels. The demographic profile of food bank users had also shifted, with a growing proportion of working-age adults in employment accessing support — evidence that work alone is no longer a sufficient protection against food insecurity for a significant minority of the population.
Food bank managers and poverty campaigners expressed concern that the renewed energy price shock following the Iran war would lead to a further increase in demand during the spring and summer of 2026. Households that had just managed to stabilise their budgets as inflation eased in 2024 were at particular risk of being pushed back into crisis by higher fuel and energy costs, which would reduce the disposable income available for food after essential bills were paid.
The government's removal of the two-child benefit limit from April 2026 was welcomed as a step towards reducing child poverty, but antipoverty organisations argued that the impact on food bank demand would be modest compared to the scale of the need, and that broader reform of the social security system was required to provide meaningful protection against food insecurity at scale.
