· Households using food banks face extreme financial vulnerability. All food bank users had, in the last month, an income well below the threshold for low income. More than 1/3 of households experienced an income shock in the past three months and over 2/3 reported unexpected and rising expenses during the same period.
· Almost half of households reported their incomes were unsteady from week to week or month to month.
· Half of households included someone with a disability.
· Lone parents and their children constitute the largest number of people receiving help from food banks, though single male households are the most common household type.
· Over 78% of households were severely food insecure. For a majority of households, this was a chronic experience, happening every month or almost every month over the past 12 months.
· Food bank users experience multiple forms of destitution – 50% had gone without heating for more than four days in the past 12 months, and 1 in 5 had slept rough in the last 12 months.