Larger, younger families turning to food banks for help: Manitoba Harvest

Harvest Manitoba says more young families are accessing food back services in the province. Jeff Keele reports.

Larger, younger families are turning to food banks for help at a ‘staggering rate’ according to a new report from Harvest Manitoba.

The annual report, released Thursday morning, shows up to 60,000 people in Manitoba are accessing foodbanks each month. Nearly half of them (45 per cent) are families with children.

“Many are working and educated, and doing everything they can to stay afloat,” Meaghan Erbus, director of network, advocacy and education at Harvest Manitoba, said in a news release. “Rising housing costs, childcare shortages, and wages that don’t match the cost of living are putting enormous pressure on households.”

Who is using food banks?

The report found the average household size increased from two to 2.9 people per household. The number of families with children under 18 increased from 32 per cent to 45 per cent over the past five years.

Most of the people at the food banks are Canadian citizens (70 per cent), while 11 per cent are permanent residents and 14 per cent have a temporary status.

Harvest Manitoba found equal representation between what the report described as clients of white European descent and those identifying as Indigenous.

Cost of living driving more to food banks

The report found most of the families at the food banks earn less than $20,000 per year, while the average monthly living expenses was more than $1,600 – an increase of nearly $300 since 2022.

“In effect, nine out of ten clients (96%) cannot afford to buy healthy food at home and face the challenges of food insecurity daily,” the report reads.

Nearly half of the people at the food banks had been going for less than a year, using it only as a safety net when they don’t have enough money to make ends meet.

The report said other common reasons for people attending the foodbank include a disability or medical condition, unemployment, or job loss.

It found 69 per cent of the people attending food banks were currently unemployed, most commonly due to illness and disability, being in a caregiving role to family, or lack of transportation.

Harvest Manitoba calls for changes

Harvest Manitoba outlined 10 recommendations in its report to help address the food insecurity hitting so many Manitoba families.

• Governments must consult people with lived experience in poverty
• Increase social assistance and seriously consider a Livable Basic Needs Benefit
• Federal government should increase the Canadian Disability Benefit to $500 per month
• Prioritize affordable housing, with rent geared to 30 per cent of a household’s income
• Provide employment training in skilled trades and healthcare fields
• Support fare-free travel for low-income transit users
• Provincial government should fill gaps left by the federal Child Care Benefit
• Provincial government should establish an emergency food security fund for wildfire and climate-related displacement events
• Take action to address food insecurity in Northern Manitoba
• Provincial government should create a comprehensive, province-wide food security strategy

Methodology

The results of the Harvest Manitoba report come from a survey of food bank clients completed by phone, in-person or online. The survey was conducted between May and September, with 597 responses.

Harvest Manitoba said the results hold a 95 per cent confidence with a 4 per cent margin of error.

You can read the full report online.