Families in Wales 'struggle' as cost pressures persist

BBC

Around a quarter of people in Wales have been cutting down or skipping meals as they struggle to make ends meet, according to a new report on poverty.

The Bevan Foundation said that, while there were some signs of improvement, disabled people and families with children were among those under particular pressure.

Taff-Ely Food Bank, covering Rhondda Cynon Taf, said "almost 40%" of food parcels it gave out in the six months to October went to children.

The UK government said its taskforce would "publish an ambitious strategy to tackle the structural" causes of child poverty. The Welsh government said it had "invested over £7bn" supporting households facing financial pressures.

The Snapshot of Poverty report said there were some "glimmers of hope that the extremes of living cost spikes may be receding", but thousands of low income households were finding themselves "falling deeper and deeper into debt."

A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted for the report suggested that the number of people who said they struggled to afford essentials had fallen from 15% last September to 12% this year.

The number of parents reporting that their children were facing reduced meal sizes or skipping meals entirely had fallen from a peak of 21% in 2023 to 13% in 2025.

But parents with children under 18 were among the groups reporting increased financial pressure, according to the report.

That chimes with the experience of Charmaine Walsh, a support manager at Taff Ely Foodbank.

"The parents are going without food so the kids can have food," she said.

But she believes that the rate at which food prices have risen this year means cost of living pressures have been getting worse for her clients.

"There's people that would say previously 'I've got £3 I can make it last'," she said.

"They'd have the same kind of meal throughout the week but they'd be able to stretch that £3, whereas now £3 doesn't touch the sides."

Colin Henderson volunteers at Taff-Ely food bank site in Trealaw, near Tonypandy.

He is the "resident cook", knocking up bacon sandwiches or toast for clients who come in for help and advice.

He and his wife are retired and with the "exorbitant price of food these days" they decided to give their time to help others.

"The trend is definitely towards more people needing this sort of help," he said.

Steffan Evans

Steffan Evans, head of the Bevan Foundation, told BBC Wales' politics podcast Walescast that its latest report "highlights just how difficult life is for families across Wales".

He called for the UK government to use the forthcoming budget to scrap the two-child limit, which stops parents claiming universal credit or child tax credit for additional children born after 2017.

"It's a no brainer," he said.

"Relative to the results you get it's one of the cheapest actions the chancellor could take to make a difference on child poverty rates."

The Institute for Fiscal studies has estimated that scrapping the limit would lift more than 600,000 children around the UK out of poverty, at a cost of £3.6bn a year.

But Conservative Senedd member Samuel Kurtz told Walescast the cap should be maintained because of "fairness".

"What's the fairness for a working family who are thinking about having a third child and can't financially make it work?" he said.

"Why is there that disparity between a working family and a non-working family?"

A UK government spokesperson said: "We are determined to bring down poverty in all areas of the UK.

"As part of our Plan for Change, we've already uprated benefits, increased the national minimum wage and are supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions."

The Welsh government said: "We're determined to do all we can to prevent people from going into poverty and helping those who need support the most.

"Since 2019 we've invested over £29m in community food organisations to help tackle food insecurity and support people to maximise their income."