Anti-poverty charity Trussell is calling on the First Minister to take bold and decisive action on hunger and hardship in its Programme for Government next month
- Failure to tackle hunger and hardship leads to the Scottish government spending an additional £860 million a year on public services like the NHS, schools and children’s social care
- Trussell is calling on the UK government to urgently rethink planned cuts to support for disabled people, and update Universal Credit so that it protects people from hunger and hardship.
Failing to act on hunger and hardship in Scotland is costing the public finances and economy £5.6bn each year, new research by anti-poverty charity Trussell has revealed.
Published today, the Cost of Hunger and Hardship report includes analysis from economic and public policy experts WPI Economics on how much failing to tackle hunger and hardship costs Scotland’s economy and public finances. Informed by interviews with people with lived experience, the report explores how facing hunger and hardship is linked to worse health, employment outcomes and housing security.
The report finds that Scotland’s economy loses out on over £2.9 billion each year due to reduced employment and lower productivity, because of the ways in which hunger and hardship can harm people’s chances of gaining and maintaining stable employment.
For example, people said how facing hardship led to deteriorating physical and mental health, making it far more difficult to find and stay in work. Others talked about not being able to afford transport or the right clothes to attend a job interview, or not having access to the technology needed to complete job applications.
The public purse also loses out on over £1.4 billion in income from taxes (tax revenue) each year and needs to spend an additional £405 million on social security payments as a result of people facing hunger and hardship in Scotland. This is due to the scarring effects of severe hardship, which can lead to long-term unemployment and lower wages which can trap people in a cycle of hunger and hardship.
It found that failure to address hunger and hardship in Scotland leads to £860 million in additional spending each year on public services like the NHS, schools, children’s social care, and more.
Over half of this figure, £450 million, is spent on healthcare in Scotland alone, due to how hunger and hardship is linked to worse physical and mental health. Indeed, people who are disabled or living with someone who is are disproportionately more likely to experience hunger and hardship.
That’s why Trussell is calling on the UK government to rethink its cuts to disability benefits, as the anti-poverty warns that cutting support risks pushing more disabled people to food banks.
Cara Hilton, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Trussell in Scotland, said: “Trussell’s major new research demonstrates the huge impact of hunger and hardship on Scotland’s public services and the cost of failing to act.
“The Scottish Government has significant powers to turn the tide on hunger and hardship and must take bold and decisive action in Programme for Government next month, so no one else has to experience hunger and hardship under their watch.
“Not only is it the right thing to do, its common sense for our economy. Scottish and UK governments have both a moral and economic responsibility to act. There is no time to lose.
“At the same time, we are calling on Holyrood to use its voice to urge the UK government to rethink its cruel cuts to disability benefits, which risk pushing more disabled people to the doors of food banks.”
Responding to these findings, Trussell is calling on the Scottish Government to commit to:
- Increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £40 a week. This would lift 84,000 people out of hunger and hardship with a reduction of costs to the economy, public services and the public purse of £435 million.
- Ensuring everyone can access the financial support they’re eligible for would lift 100,000 people in Scotland out of facing hunger and hardship. This would lead to a reduction in costs to the economy, public services and public purse of £800 million.
- Take action to reduce the disability employment gap. This would lift 36,000 people out of hunger and hardship, reducing costs to the economy, public services and the public purse by £230 million.
And across the UK, Trussell is calling on the UK Government to urgently rethink planned cuts to support for disabled people and to update Universal Credit so that it protects people from hunger and hardship:
- Abolishing the two-child limit would lift 27,000 people in Scotland out of hunger and hardship by 2025/26. This would lead to a reduction in costs to the economy, public services and public purse of £115 million.
- Introducing an Essentials Guarantee would lift 204,000 people in Scotland out of hunger and hardship and reduce the costs to the economy, public services and the public purse by £1.5 billion.
