Feedback from Usdaw members shows that those in receipt of Universal Credit, typically the lowest-income households, are struggling to make ends meet. In the union’s survey of mainly low-paid key workers, over four in ten have cut down on essentials including food. Responses included:
• “I use a food bank as now can’t afford one meal a day for my children and me with everything else”. Retail Worker aged 52, Greater London
• “I wake up every night worrying if I have enough to cover the bills or food shop”. Retail Worker, aged 31, South East England
• “Have sold sentimental items to buy food. Committed to working hard but I’m only surviving, no luxuries, feel like a failure to my kids”. Funeral Worker, aged 47, North East England
• “I wish I could afford to buy decent food including fresh fruit on a large scale”. Retail Worker, aged 41, Midlands
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “We welcome the Government extending access to free school meals. It has long been clear that Universal Credit claimants need significant additional support to be able to make ends meet, and we were repeatedly disappointed that the last Tory Government never recognised that. In our survey, many detailed difficulties in affording healthy, nutritious food for their children. Labour has taken a very welcome step in the right direction and, having given evidence to the Government’s child poverty taskforce, we look forward to them going further when publishing a 10-year strategy later this year.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn. This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today, this government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in parents’ pockets. From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success. We believe that background shouldn’t mean destiny. Today’s historic step will help us to deliver excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion