Benefit sanctions, whereby social security claimants have
their payments stopped for at least a month as a punishment for breaching
jobcentre rules, are a key driver of hunger and food bank use, according to a
study carried out by Oxford University academics. The study, which mapped
official sanctions data against food bank referral figures, concluded that a
“robust link” existed between increases in the number of benefit sanctions handed
out and rising numbers of adults receiving food parcels. It found that every
three-month increase of 10 sanctions per 100,000 of the population over a
four-year period was associated with around five more instances of adults being
referred for charity food parcels, suggesting a “strong, dynamic relationship”
between the two. Read more on the Guardian website.
