Those going without essentials such as food, heating or basic toiletries has remained at 7m for a year.

Despite Government help including cost-of-living payments, things are “simply not getting any better,” says the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), who conducted the data.

While 87% have gone without at least one essential in the last 30 days, three quarters have gone hungry, cut down or skipped meals.

The Foundation said high food inflation and inadequate Government support is creating a “horrendous new normal” for those affected.

It said those receiving benefits are forced into making “impossible choices about how often they eat and which foods they buy”.

Universal Credit claimants hit hardest

Rising prices and soaring inflation are hitting those on Universal Credit especially hard with 2.3m, or 69%, forced to change the kind of food they buy, opting for cheaper, less nutritious choices to save money, according to the JRF’s tracker of over 4,000 people on low incomes.

It found that 2.7m low-income households had a poor diet because of the cost-of-living crisis.

Over half, 54%, of those receiving Universal Credit said they had gone without three or more essentials for a prolonged period.

The data also showed that 3.7m low-income households (31%) have less than £200 in savings and 2.6m (22%) hold a loan with a loan shark, payday lender, doorstep lender or a pawnshop.

‘Cost of living payments not even providing breathing space’

Rachelle Earwaker, senior economist for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “We are seeing these levels of hardship persist and it has become a horrendous new normal – with over half of low-income households on Universal Credit going without three or more of the essentials that we all need to live.

“That places a huge burden on families in the here and now, but we need to get real that this is a hardship crisis that won’t end as inflation starts to fall. Higher prices will remain baked in, and cost of living payments, while necessary, are not even providing breathing space for people who desperately need it. That is because the Universal Credit system isn’t based on what people need to live on – even in a good year.”

The Foundation is calling on the Government to commit to a fixed ‘Essentials Guarantee’ that would ensure those receiving Universal Credit can at least afford essentials like food and heating.

Other organisations, including the Money Advice Trust, have also called for this.