Food banks supported 2.4 million people at the end of 2022. MEHDI FEDOUACH / AFP
More than a third of people in the Food Bank network have been using it for less than six months, notes a study published on Monday.
Queues are lengthening in front of food aid distribution points. Food banks supported 2.4 million people at the end of 2022, three times more than ten years ago, according to a study carried out by the CSA institute for the first national food aid network, published on Monday. “Since 2008, the various economic and health crises have resulted in this “slow tide” of recourse to food aid which has never receded», Underlines the document.
In 2022 alone, the increase in demand for food aid thus amounts to 9%. “The worsening of purchasing power problems is measured by the increased share of new people welcomed“, notes the study. More than a third of beneficiaries have been using food aid for less than six months. Another disturbing sign,the frequency of recourse to food aid increases“. According to the Food Banks, nearly 6 out of 10 people use it once or twice a week, an increase of 6% compared to 2020.
Read alsoFood banks deplore collection down 10%
Thus, food aid is considered “essential that we cannot do withoutby two-thirds of the approximately 1,200 people questioned in this study, an increase of 15 points compared to 2020. The study also notes the growing weight of food in the budget of people helped. It has become the second item of expenditure, behind housing but now ahead of water and energy bills.
“Populations with increasingly differentiated profiles now turn to food aid“, also observes the study. If more than 80% of the beneficiaries are unemployed (unemployed, retired, long-term sick, stay-at-home parent, etc.), “precariousness does not spare those who have a job and who can be described as “poor workers”, who are more and more numerous“, note the Food Banks. Among the 17% of beneficiaries in employment, 60% are on permanent contracts, and 66% work part-time.
TO HAVE ALSO – Elisabeth Borne announces a fund of 60 million euros in 2023 “for sustainable food aid”