Healthy Start NHS food voucher scheme has 'pitifully' low take-up
The government has missed its target to increase the use of healthy NHS food stamps for vulnerable parents of young children, it has emerged, despite soaring grocery prices and rising food poverty.
The latest figures show that adoption of the misguided Healthy Start diet, designed to help pregnant women and parents of children under four years in low-income families to pay for fruit and vegetables, milk and baby milk powder, has barely changed in a year.
The Figures show young low-income families are most affected by food insecurity, with 27% often unable to afford to buy enough food to ensure they and their families are eating regularly and healthy.< /p> Only 64% of eligible parents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland claimed Heathy Start vouchers at the end of March, down from 63% a year earlier. According to the Food Foundation, the government's target was 75%. He said that in contrast, the equivalent scheme in Scotland achieved an 88% take-up rate. Around 550,000 low-income mothers who receive benefits and who are pregnant or have children under four are eligible for the voucher scheme, which provides weekly payments per child of £4.25 during pregnancy, then £8.50 per week for babies up to age one year, and £4.25 thereafter. The scheme has struggled since its inception in 2017, with participation in England and Northern Ireland dropping to less than 50% at the start of 2020. It increased at the start of the Covid pandemic, but fell again after technical problems when the program moved from paper vouchers to digital cards at the end of 2021. The delays left some parents wait over a year for the right ones. As food insecurity rises - latest figures show almost 4 million UK children are in dire straits. food poverty - campaigners have called on ministers to introduce automatic enrollment in vouchers, increase their value and extend eligibility to more parents. The pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears in Whitehall. Food inflation stands at 18.2%, fruit prices , vegetables and baby powder have increased massively over the past year. The current Healthy Start allocation does not cover the full cost of infant formula on the market. after newsletter promotion Anna Taylor, Executive Director of the Food Foundation, said, "Healthy Start is a program very targeted which should help the most needy families, but pitifully low participation levels mean that there are families all over the country who do not benefit from this statutory scheme.
The government has missed its target to increase the use of healthy NHS food stamps for vulnerable parents of young children, it has emerged, despite soaring grocery prices and rising food poverty.
The latest figures show that adoption of the misguided Healthy Start diet, designed to help pregnant women and parents of children under four years in low-income families to pay for fruit and vegetables, milk and baby milk powder, has barely changed in a year.
The Figures show young low-income families are most affected by food insecurity, with 27% often unable to afford to buy enough food to ensure they and their families are eating regularly and healthy.< /p> Only 64% of eligible parents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland claimed Heathy Start vouchers at the end of March, down from 63% a year earlier. According to the Food Foundation, the government's target was 75%. He said that in contrast, the equivalent scheme in Scotland achieved an 88% take-up rate. Around 550,000 low-income mothers who receive benefits and who are pregnant or have children under four are eligible for the voucher scheme, which provides weekly payments per child of £4.25 during pregnancy, then £8.50 per week for babies up to age one year, and £4.25 thereafter. The scheme has struggled since its inception in 2017, with participation in England and Northern Ireland dropping to less than 50% at the start of 2020. It increased at the start of the Covid pandemic, but fell again after technical problems when the program moved from paper vouchers to digital cards at the end of 2021. The delays left some parents wait over a year for the right ones. As food insecurity rises - latest figures show almost 4 million UK children are in dire straits. food poverty - campaigners have called on ministers to introduce automatic enrollment in vouchers, increase their value and extend eligibility to more parents. The pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears in Whitehall. Food inflation stands at 18.2%, fruit prices , vegetables and baby powder have increased massively over the past year. The current Healthy Start allocation does not cover the full cost of infant formula on the market. after newsletter promotion Anna Taylor, Executive Director of the Food Foundation, said, "Healthy Start is a program very targeted which should help the most needy families, but pitifully low participation levels mean that there are families all over the country who do not benefit from this statutory scheme.
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