UK’s Trussell Trust distributed a record 480,000 food parcels for children. (Via Getty Images)

London, April 27 (RHC)-- New figures released by a major British food charity organization unveil that more than a million children in the European country received food aid in the past 12 months amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis.

According to the latest stats released by the Trussell Trust charity, which supports some 1,200 food banks across the UK, about 1.1 million out of nearly three million food parcels distributed by the organization in the past year – ending March 31, 2023 -- had been provided to kids in need of food assistance.

The data further highlights a surge of 38 percent in food aid distribution among British children compared to a year earlier as more families across the major European economic power grapple with enduring economic crisis widely attributed to fallout of the Ukraine-Russia war and the COVID crisi.

According to another major British charity group, the Food Foundation, one in five households across the UK reported in March that they had to skip meals or not eat for an entire day in the month of January.  Another survey conducted by the organization further shows that nearly 22 percent of British households also reported having to skip numerous meals last month.

Last August, the UK-based Guardian daily reported that hundreds of thousands of children could go hungry across Britain as their families do not qualify for free meal programs that are run by schools.  The report cited charity organization, Child Poverty Action Group, as saying that up to 800,000 children had already fallen below the threshold that makes them eligible to receive the meals.

Last month, a leading British investigation company on consumer affairs also warned that one in seven people in the UK skip meals and sit in cold homes due to the worsening cost-of-living crisis.

The findings to a report by Consumer Insight, an alarming number of British households are going without food and cannot afford their energy bills as rising inflation and high energy costs put pressure on incomes.

The findings also suggested that almost one in 10 Britons had prioritized meals for other family members above themselves.  Furthermore, the low incomes caused 2.3 million households last month to miss a vital payment, such as their mortgage, rent, credit card, or bill payment.

The UK economy is experiencing its worst conditions in decades, with inflation soaring and the cost-of-living crisis weighing further on people’s lives.  Food prices, along with those of numerous other goods used in daily life, have increased primarily as a result of the rise in energy costs since the start of the war on Ukraine last year.

The war in Ukraine has massively increased oil and gas prices as both Russia and the West play hydrocarbon supplies as a bargaining chip to force the other’s hand.  The market price of fuels and electricity has adjusted accordingly, triggering double-digit energy inflation.  

The surging costs and low incomes have prompted most of the labor forces in different industries to stage nationwide strikes.