People from ethnic minority backgrounds 'almost twice as likely to face hunger'

People from ethnic minority backgrounds are almost twice as likely to face hunger than those from White backgrounds, research by the Trussell Trust has found.

The food bank charity’s latest Hunger in the UK report, to be published next week, found 25% of people from an ethnic minority background experiencefood insecuritycompared to 14% of people from a White background.

People from ethnic minority backgrounds are also over-represented among people referred to food banks in the Trussell community. Some 19% of people referred to food banks are from a ethnic minority background compared to 14% of the UK population, according to stats shared with The Mirror.

READ MORE: 'I run an overstretched food bank and this is the powerful thing I tell my kids'

Tayyaba, a former NHS worker who had to turn to food banks for support, said life is a “constant struggle”. “I became a single parent when I left my abusive relationship,” she said.

“I worked for the NHS at the time, but my pay was so low, it had to be topped up by Universal Credit. But it still wasn’t enough to get us to the end of the month without having to turn to a food bank.

“I have had to turn to food banks many times, otherwise I’d be skipping meals to make sure my son could eat. Managing everything alone is tough and life is a constant struggle. I’m not asking for luxuries, just a peaceful life where I can sleep without worrying about how I'm going to pay my bills or put food on the table.”

Levi Roots, Trussell ambassador and Reggae Reggae Sauce entrepreneur, said: “My family moved to Britain as part of the Windrush generation. I moved here when I was 11 and it was a frightening experience - I faced poverty and hardship as well as racism.

“These should be things of the past, but Trussell’s findings show that structural inequalities mean people from ethnic minority backgrounds are almost twice as likely to face hunger than people from white backgrounds, and are overrepresented at food banks. Nobody should have to turn to a food bank to survive. This isn’t right.”

Dr Shabna Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, a leading racial justice charity, said: “While these figures are shocking, they are unsurprising - we know that approximately three in five Bangladeshi and Pakistani people, and over half of Black children, live in poverty after housing costs, compared to a quarter of white children.

“These outcomes are the result of decades of political choices designed to benefit a select few, whilst at the same time, stirring division along racial lines to distract from the changes that we need to see.”

A Government spokesman said: “This government is determined to root out structural racial inequality, as well as direct discrimination, and create a genuinely level playing field.

“We are reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so we can get people into good, secure jobs, helping them out of poverty and tackling the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence in recent years.”

They also pointed to launching 750 breakfast clubs across the country, providing a £1billion crisis support package and making changes to Universal Credit to give a £420 boost to over one million households.

:: On behalf of Trussell, Ipsos interviewed a sample of 4,427 UK adults between May and July 2024 and a separate survey of 3,866 adults referred to food banks between May and July 2025.

READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster