Quote Originally Posted by life on mars View Post
Prevous to no food banks there was no knowledge or facts to how many required thier use, it could be these numbers were always there.

On a personal note I distinctly remember as a child facing the end of the week with very little to eat ,cold with no heating .
I was suggesting the huge increase in food bank demand is merely reflective of the number of outlets dispensing grub.

In 1946 the government of the day introduced Family Allowance (the forerunner to Child Benefit). Suddenly a vast number of parents who had two or more dependent children qualified for a weekly payment to supplement their income, and of course the majority piled in for it despite being able to get by in previous years without it. Another example is Winter Fuel Payment. That didn't exist until 1997... then 12 million (mostly oldies) rushed to get their mitts in the cookie jar. Like I said, freebies have always been incredibly popular.