This Living Wage Week, Garry Lemon - Director of Policy, External Affairs and Research at the The Trussel Trust blogs about why we need to make sure if someone's doing a day's work, they are paid a real Living Wage for it as 1 in 7 people at food banks are in employment.
The help provided at food bank centres like the 1,200 in our network is absolutely vital, providing a lifeline for people that have been pulled under by the rising tide of poverty. But no one in the UK should need that help. That's why at the Trussell Trust we're working towards a future where no one needs a food bank.
Every so often (especially in the lead up to elections!) we're asked how many nurses, teachers and workers in other sectors use food banks, so to mark Living Wage Week, we wanted to write about what evidence our network has about working people needing help from a food bank.
Just last week we published the first annual report of State of Hunger, the most authoritative piece of research into what causes hunger in the UK, and what needs to change if we're to become a country where everyone has enough money for a decent standard of living.
State of Hunger shows 1 in 7 people at food banks are in employment, or live with someone who is - the majority of that work is part-time. That's 1 in 7 people trapped in impossible situations like Jenny, who told researchers when she was referred to her local food bank: "My rent's £655 a month... and my council tax is £120 a month. It's absolutely ridiculous. My partner's on minimum wage, so obviously that's not a lot, and he does 33 hours. I just feel like I'm not getting anywhere at the minute."
This clearly isn't right. People are being locked into poverty and pushed to food banks.
It's no surprise that people with less money in their pockets are more likely to need a food bank - but what State of Hunger shockingly shows is just how little people are trying to live on. On average, people have just £50 a week to live on after housing costs.
86% of people at food banks are not employed. The overwhelming numbers of people experiencing problems with the benefits system have meant we've had to prioritise our work in this area. But if we're to become a country without the need for food banks, we also need local financial support to catch people when a crisis hits, and we need work to be secure and fairly-paid.
If someone is doing a day's work, they should be a paid a proper wage. That's the kind of society we want to live in. And it's the kind of society we absolutely have the power to build. We're proud at the Trussell Trust to be an accredited Living Wage Employer. The Living Wage is a vital standard that helps ensure people are protected from poverty. We encourage all employers, large and small, to join us in paying it.
There's a part for everyone to play so we can reach a future without the need for food banks: government, communities and businesses all need to be working towards a future where everyone has enough money for a decent standard of living if we're going to get there.