Black households up to four times more likely to be starving than national average

Black households in the UK are up to four times more likely to suffer from food insecurity than the national average as the cost of living crisis grips the country, new analysis shows.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions family resources survey show that in the 2020-21 financial year, some 21 per cent of households headed by someone from a Black African, Black Caribbean or Black British background didn’t have enough food to stay healthy and active. This figure is three times more than the UK average of 7 per cent.

The proportion of Black households with very low food security status stood at 12 per cent – four times the national average of 3 per cent. Households with this status would “anticipate substantive disruption to their food intake”. This means that 280,000 Black people across the UK struggled to get enough to eat at the height of the pandemic, the Labour Party has calculated.

Taiwo Owatemi MP, Labour’s shadow minister for women and equalities, said: “Families in the country are reeling from Conservative failure that will leave them £2,620 worse off. But for the 4.6 million households already grappling with food poverty during the pandemic, the cost of living crisis started a long time ago.

“The Conservatives should be particularly appalled that their failure to tackle structural inequality left Black households three times more likely to suffer from food insecurity during the pandemic, with one in ten struggling to get enough to eat at the height of the crisis.”

Some 12 per cent of households headed by someone from a Bangladeshi heritage also suffered from very low food security, while households led by someone from a Pakistani background are the second most food insecure overall at 17 per cent.

Evidence shows people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are also significantly more likely to be living in poverty and are disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis.

Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published in January found that poverty rates are significantly higher among people from Bangladeshi (53 per cent), Pakistani (48 per cent) and Black (40 per cent) ethnic groups than among white people (19 per cent).

Nearly four in five Black households have less than £1,500 in savings, according to another Labour analysis for Race Equality Week in February which The Independent first reported on.

And a recent study from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) highlighted that ethnic minority workers are significantly overrepresented on zero-hours contracts compared to white workers (4.3 per cent compared to 3 per cent).

“Black, Asian and minority ethnic people deserve better than a Conservative government that denies structural racism even exists,” Ms Taiwo said, adding that the next Labour government would introduce a landmark Race Equality Act to tackle racial inequality and cut energy bills by up to £600.

But the government neglected to address the racial disparity in food security when approached for comment by The Independent.

A Whitehall spokesperson said: “We spent billions to help those most in need and combat food insecurity throughout the pandemic. This included the £429.1m Covid Local Support grant, which was created to help families with food and fuel bills.

“We also recognise the pressures people are currently facing with the cost of living, which is why we’re providing support worth over £22bn across this financial year to help, and we’re developing the Food Strategy white paper with colleagues across government to build on existing work, identifying new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and more accessible for those across the UK.”