Mitigating and measuring child hunger in the UK: the picture in 2026

​This Social Market Foundation panel event, sponsored by Deliveroo, will launch a new report measuring child food insecurity and how to tackle the challenge.

​In December 2020, the SMF and Deliveroo published a report on child hunger, finding that one in four children faced some form of food deprivation in the six months following the pandemic. Five years on, a new report will revisit this important issue in the context of recent policy changes – including the Labour Government’s expansion of the Free School Meal policy, introduction of Free Breakfast Clubs, and lifting of the two-child benefit cap – and provide new survey to offer a snapshot of child food insecurity in 2026. Informed by expert interviews with academics and practitioners, the report will look at what has changed, what progress has been made, and what more needs to be done, and will produce a set of recommendations for policymakers.

​We want to discuss questions including:

• ​How has the way the Government measures hunger changed since 2020, and what data are we still missing

• ​How are parents experiencing food insecurity compared with five years ago?

• ​How effective have policy changes since 2020 been in addressing family food insecurity? What changes have made the most impact, and what more is needed?

• ​What is the role of the third sector and business in tackling food insecurity and hunger?

​​We kindly ask that this registration link and the event location are not circulated outside of your organisation. If you would like to pass the invitation on to a colleague, please do let us know.

​​If you have further questions about the event, please get in touch with [email protected].