Marcus Rashford: Child food poverty 'getting worse not better' says footballer

Manchester United footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford has launched a new campaign calling for an end to child food poverty in the UK.

Rashford started campaigning last year to try to make sure children didn't experience food poverty during the summer holidays.

But even after highlighting the issue, he has said child food poverty is getting "worse not better".

The footballer has spoken out after a new survey, by Food Foundation, found that 15% of households with children have experienced food insecurity in the past six months.

Rashford wants more to be done to tackle the problem of child food poverty in the UK and is asking people to write to their local MP (Member of Parliament) to highlight the problem.

In response to Rashford's statement, a government spokesman said that it would "continue to support eligible pupils during the school term" and that families had "benefited from additional support for food and utilities" during holidays.

'The issue is getting worse not better'

Rashford has fought for more than a year to reduce child food poverty

The Manchester United striker said: "While we've come a long way in the last 20 months, placing the issue of child food poverty at the forefront, devastatingly, the issue is getting worse not better.

"The entire nation got behind the national team this summer so let's put these figures in football terms: You can fill 27 Wembley stadiums with the 2.5 million children that are struggling to know where their next meal might be coming from today.

"What is it going to take for these children to be prioritised?

"Instead of removing support through social security, we should be focusing efforts on developing a sustainable long-term road map out of this child hunger pandemic."

Rashford's recommendations

The National Food Strategy aims to make sure every child gets some good food every day

Rashford is supporting the three recommendations which have been made by the National Food Strategy.

The National Food Strategy is a report that was requested by the government in 2019. It reviews what people in the UK eat and what needs to be done to improve it.

These three suggestions aim to make sure that every child at risk of going hungry gets some good food every day:

• Expand free school meals to all children aged 7-18 in households than earn less than £20,000 in a year. Also to open it up to children who are undocumented (don't have proof of UK residency) or living in immigrant households.

• Give more long-term funding for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. This programme gives local authorities money to provide food and activities for children who are eligible in their area.

• Expand Healthy Start to all households with children under age five earning less than £20,000 per year. This is a scheme which provides vouchers to help buy basic foods like milk or fruit.

Why did Rashford take on the government?

Marcus Rashford was awarded an MBE for his efforts to end child hunger

Rashford began his campaign for child poverty in 2019, after the government announced they were not going to continue giving children, who were eligible for free school meals, vouchers during the summer holidays.

After the England footballer spoke out and asked the government to change it's mind, ministers did a U-turn and continued the food voucher scheme during the summer holidays.

Rashford spoke about his childhood in 2020 and said: "My mum worked full-time, earning minimum wage to make sure we always had a good evening meal on the table.

"But it was not enough. The system was not built for families like mine to succeed, regardless of how hard my mum worked."

The footballer is asking the government to support the plans put forward by the the National Food Strategy.