Neoliberal welfare reforms and emergency food aid in the UK

Driven by an intensification of neoliberalism within the UK political system over the last 45 years, crucial reforms to social security have had a compounding effect on the poorest. In more recent neoliberal times, ideological austerity has progressed hand in hand with political welfare conditionality, as the poorest suffer further demonstrable hardship. Acting as a residual welfare safety net, emergency food aid has become normalized within the UK and recognized as an accepted part of necessary welfare reforms. However, hidden beneath the wave of rising food bank use lies an opaque deepness, obscuring the true extent of UK hunger evident on multiple political and social levels.

Project Team: Dr Dave Beck  

Research Group: CLDR, Digital Society 

Project Funder: Unfunded