Poverty

I have belatedly watched Simon Reeve’s TV series on Cornwall. I was disturbed by the high level of usage of food banks which has obviously been increased by Covid.

Questions were raised in my mind to which I don’t know the answers.

1 Is it correct that Universal Credit is insufficient to feed say a single mum with two children?

2 Is the benefit system fit for purpose?

3 What is the criteria applied to determine if someone can access free food from a food bank?

4 Is there any data to show whether people are accessing free food to free up cash for less necessary expenditure because it is available?

5 How can one of the biggest economies in the world have so many people in poverty particularly children?

6 How do we compare with other countries in terms of use of food banks or their equivalents?

7 How many people using food banks are in employment and how many of those are on zero hour contracts?

Simon really brought home to me the state of our country and I found it distressing and depressing. Covid has obviously made it worse. Will Brexit do the same?