One in eight households skipping meals as the cost of food crisis continues to bite, Which? warns

Worrying numbers of households are skipping meals, Which? warns, as the consumer champion reveals the UK areas most at risk in the food affordability crisis. 

Which?’s February consumer insight tracker found that the cost of food is still a key concern for consumers - with some households taking significant steps to reduce their grocery bill. 

Eight in ten (79%) consumers said they were worried about food prices. Concerningly, one in eight (13%) said they have skipped meals, eight per cent have prioritised meals for other family members and three per cent have turned to food banks. 

Certain groups of consumers were more likely to have skipped meals - with one in five (21%) renters and a quarter (25%) of those who are unemployed missing meals. 

The majority of households (53%) also reported buying cheaper products and almost half (46%) said they purchased more supermarket own-brand budget range items to cut grocery costs.

These worrying figures come as an estimated 1.9 million households missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill in the month to February 7th. This is significantly lower than the month to January 12th - which saw 2.4 million households miss payments - but reflects the high missed payment rates seen throughout the cost of living crisis. 

This volatility in missed payment rates around New Year was also seen in previous years - possibly reflecting abnormal spending patterns over the festive period.

The Priority Places for Food Index developed jointly by Which? and the Consumer Data Research Centre at the University of Leeds, has been updated to reveal the local areas in the UK where households are most likely to be in need of extra support to put food on the table.

The Index takes into account factors such as low income,having no large supermarkets nearby, a lack of online shopping deliveries or circumstances such as no car access - which can all make it difficult for people to shop around and find healthy and affordable food.

The Index finds that, in England, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and the West Midlands had the highest number of priority place areas. All three regions have about a third of local areas in the region most likely to be in need of extra help, according to Which?’s findings. This is for a variety of reasons including poor access to online deliveries, a lack of supermarkets nearby and a higher need for family food support. 

Constituencies in Birmingham feature heavily at the top of the Index with Birmingham Hodge Hill considered the most affected area - with 98.5 per cent of its local areas are most likely to be in need of extra support. This is driven by neighbourhoods with high fuel poverty and high need for family food support. 

Which?’s analysis of the Index shows that overall, eight in 10 UK Parliamentary constituencies have at least one local area most likely in need of help accessing affordable food – but there are eight constituencies across England, Wales and Northern Ireland for which at least three-quarters of the constituency are at risk.

In Wales, Which? found the highest concentration of areas at high risk during the food crisis in the Valleys, where people are more likely to be suffering from fuel poverty and on a low income.

In Scotland, the places in highest need of support are in the Central Belt, according to the Which? and University of Leeds index, but there is also a notable concentration in and around Dundee where there is relatively poor access to online food deliveries and people are more likely to be suffering from fuel poverty and on a low income.

In Northern Ireland there is a noticeably greater concentration in parts of south west Belfast and in and around Derry/Londonderry.

It is clear that high food prices are still a key concern for consumers, with many taking worrying steps - such as skipping meals - to keep their grocery bill manageable. 

Which? believes supermarkets need to do more to support all consumers through the cost of food crisis by making sure food prices are easy to understand so budgeting is simpler, ensuring budget lines that enable healthy choices are available throughout stores and online, and providing targeted promotions to support people in the areas that are struggling the most.

Sue Davies, Which? Head of Food Policy, said:

“Our research shows millions of consumers are still struggling with the cost of food - with one in eight forced to skip meals. 

“Supermarkets have the ability to make a real difference in the communities that need it most. That’s why we’re calling on them to ensure everyone has easy access to budget food ranges that enable healthy choices, can easily compare the price of products to get the best value and that promotions are targeted at supporting people most in need.”

Dr Fran Pontin, Senior Research Data Scientist at the Consumer Data Research Centre, said: 

“With mounting evidence of consumers worrying about bills and skipping meals, it's crucial to have an updated neighbourhood-level assessment of food insecurity risk. Empowering policymakers to take a data-driven approach to identifying and effectively channelling support to the communities most in need.”

ENDS

Notes to editors: 

Which? advice on how to save money at the supermarket here

Consumer insight tracker

The consumer insight tracker is an online poll conducted monthly by Yonder on behalf of Which?. It is weighted to be nationally representative with approximately 2,000 respondents per wave.

Which? estimates that between 5.8 per cent and 8 per cent of households missed or defaulted on a housing, bill or credit payment in the last month to February 7th, with an average estimate of 6.9 per cent. Based on the survey and the ONS estimate for the number of households in 2022 of 28.2 million, this scales up to between 1.6 million and 2.2 million households missing a bill payment in the last month, with an average estimate of 1.9 million.

Figure 1: Worry about energy and food prices remains high

Figure 2: Consumers have taken a range of sacrifices to cut their food costs

Figure 3: 6.9% of households said they had missed a payment in the month to February 7th

Methodology for priority places 

1. The Priority Places Food Index that we have developed with the Consumer Data Research Centre at the University of Leeds brings together several key indicators for the first time to highlight where people most need support and gives an indication of the types of interventions that may be most relevant for particular areas. This has implications for local as well as central and devolved governments and by highlighting how these priority places relate to constituencies, it can help bring political attention to the different types of challenges people are, or will be, facing and who is best placed to help them.

2. The Index shows that some priority places have been categorised because they are areas of high levels of income deprivation. But others may have issues that relate to the accessibility of affordable food, because of poor proximity to supermarkets, other food outlets or low levels of e-commerce activity so online deliveries are more difficult. 

3. Despite the headline findings from our surveys, which suggest that across the board people are concerned about rising food prices and many are changing their behaviour, a more tailored approach is also needed, taking into account the issues highlighted by our index so that interventions, whether from government or businesses, are designed in a way that addresses the circumstances specific to that place. For some areas, the challenge may be about making online deliveries more readily available for example – or increasing physical access to a choice of affordable, healthy food in areas that are essentially food deserts.

4. More detail about the Index methodology can be found here. 

Characteristics of priority places

We define a priority place as an LSOA, or local area, in the top 20% of places in the Priority Places for Food Index. Inevitably, many of these local areas are those with low incomes. However, due to the combination of factors that can determine the accessibility of affordable food, priority places are distributed around the country and not just in communities usually associated with high levels of deprivation. Separate indices have been created for each of the four nations of the UK. 

Figure 1: Priority Places in English Regions 

Note: Which? Analysis of the Priority Places for Food Index version 2. Local areas are aggregated to regions using the ONS 2021 OA to region lookup. 

Table 1: Top 20 English Westminster constituencies with highest proportion of priority places 

Note: Which? Analysis of the Priority Places for Food Index version 2. Local areas are aggregated to regions using the 2021 census output area usual resident population estimates  and ONS 2021 OA to Westminster Constitency to region lookup. 

Table 2: Top 10 Welsh Westminster constituencies with highest proportion of priority places

Note: Which? Analysis of the Priority Places for Food Index version 2. Local areas are aggregated to constituencies using the 2021 census output area usual resident population estimates  and ONS 2021 OA to Westminster Constitency to region lookup. 

Table 3: Top 10 Scottish Westminster constituencies with highest proportion of priority places

Note: The Scotland neighbourhoods are based on 2011 Data Zones. In the relatively small number of cases in which a local area falls into multiple Westminster constituencies, these have been matched using a best-fit approach. Local areas are matched to the constituency where the highest proportion of the local area’s population falls into. The population estimates are based on the city and town classification analysis.

Table 4: Top 10 Northern Irish Westminster constituencies with highest proportion of priority places

Note: Which? Analysis of the Priority Places for Food Index version 2. Local areas are aggregated to constituencies using a 2011 output area to constituency lookup for Northern Ireland.