The sweeping decisions made by politicians about retirement age ignore the harsh consequences for millions of womenEquality for women is not always a victory. Women and men’s entitlement to a state pension was equalised by law back in 1995, so women retire at 65 now, at 66 next year – […]

Guardian readers discuss the Conservative party conference, and the party’s political legacy so farDescribing the chancellor’s speech as “hyperbole that crumbles under scrutiny” is a kind way of making clear that it was nothing more than a cynical jumble of half-baked, […]

Visitors to Worcestershire autumn show filled more than 100 crates to mark 25th anniversaryMore than three tonnes of essentials and goodies ranging from tins of soup and toothbrushes to cuddly toys and sweets have been donated to one of the UK’s largest single food bank collections.Visitors […]

Jeremy Corbyn due to announce proposals at rally in Chingford and Woodford Green constituencyThe Labour party has promised to radically overhaul the “inhuman and cruel” universal credit programme and scrap the punitive benefit sanctions regime as part of ambitious proposals to reform […]

Government urged to reduce five-week wait claimants must endure before first paymentMinisters have come under renewed pressure to fundamentally overhaul universal credit after fresh research claimed that the welfare benefit’s built-in five week wait for payment fuelled claimant poverty and […]

Charities should not be agents of the state – and this politically manic autumn is no time to be timid, whatever the costEarlier this summer, I decided to stand down as chair of the National Association of Voluntary and Community Action (Navca). I felt I could no longer stay in a post where I […]

Organisers say donations falling during the summer, just as more families seek help‘Down to the last few tins’: summer crisis at Preston food bankFood banks in some of the UK’s poorest areas are running critically low on supplies because of a spike in demand during the school […]

This year’s National Allotment Week celebrated shared harvest. From beetroot to zinnias, here are some of your best pictures Continue reading... […]

Lisa Holcroft says football clubs should be utilised and players could help out, Sally Young is angered that food poverty has become normalised, while Frank Field MP addresses ‘holiday hunger’I am so depressed to hear that children are going hungry during the summer holidays due to […]

In England’s poorest areas, summer holiday hunger schemes are being starved of cash, leaving many children short of foodThirteen children gather eagerly around a pile of brown paper bags crammed with sandwiches, yoghurts and fruit in a youth centre on the deprived north-west fringes of […]

One woman’s shocking story sums up the inhumanity of the modern benefits regimeLast week, a woman’s sanction letter from the Department for Work and Pensions went viral on Twitter. Danielle John, from Cardiff, simply wrote: “Was told to put this up on Twitter… this was […]

More families turn to food parcels to make up for loss of free school meals, extra childcare costs and benefit payment delaysChurch and community food banks are preparing for their busiest summer yet, providing meals for children during the school holidays as an increasing number of families […]

Heidi Allen and Frank Field say families haunted by ‘constant spectre of destitution’The failure of the welfare state over the past decade has left families in Britain’s poorest neighbourhoods “blighted by the constant spectre of destitution” and reliant on charity […]

Britain’s elite will always be immune from the economic misery they cause, argues Alan Braddock, while Tom McIver applauds Oxbridge’s moves to combat elitism. Plus a letter from Adrian Childs-ClarkeGary Younge’s article (A self-serving clique runs Britain. That’s why […]

Parents tell MPs they are struggling to cope with higher childcare and food costsFamilies on universal credit are being plunged into debt because of increased childcare and food costs during school holidays, parents have told a committee of MPs as they appealed for help to manage the extra costs. […]

Maintenance staff walk out for five days after employer Interserve moved paydayA food bank collection has been set up outside the Foreign Office in London for cleaners, porters and maintenance staff who have begun a five-day strike in protest over low wages, union recognition and being left without […]

The writer has raised over £30,000 to give out copies of her latest book, whose recipes use only store-cupboard ingredientsFood banks up and down the UK can expect a different kind of delivery, after the writer and campaigner Jack Monroe raised money to give out more than 7,000 copies of her […]

The UK is a rich country, but food poverty is now a daily reality for many families. This is not inevitable• Shaista Aziz is a Labour councillor in OxfordThat the UN’s rapporteur on extreme poverty, along with researchers from a global human rights organisation, had to come to my home […]

Schools confirm Human Rights Watch findings government is failing children in povertyHeadteachers have spoken out about the hardship their students are facing in the wake of a Human Rights Watch report that highlighted the growing number of children in the UK going hungry. Related: UK's 'cruel and […]

Damning Human Rights Watch report accuses the government of breaching its dutyHuman Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the UK government of breaching its international duty to keep people from hunger by pursuing “cruel and harmful polices” with no regard for the impact on children living in […]