In Greece there are numerous reports of children being left at school on a Friday afternoon, in the hope the authorities would feed them as their own parents no longer have the means. Desperate measures, but I know I wouldn't be prepared to see my son go without food.
Sadly I envisage similar scenes of desperation occuring here, unless "the Big Society" in the form of food banks and charities manages to bridge the gap. The huge demand and rise in food banks recently has suprised me, especially as many recipients are in work.
All I can advise to other parents on benefits is that you start stocking up your cupboards now with storecupboard essentials.
Emergency broth.
8 pounds of rice
2 pounds of red kidney beans
2 pounds of pearl barley
2 pounds of yellow lentils
1 pound of green split peas
1 pound of chick peas
The above will make 16lb or 3 months worth of a fairly nutritionally balanced broth. Just add stock & water when needed in the amount you need for the night. (Add meat, onions etc if and when you can). Buy a pound of rice per week, and build up your 3 month supply gradually while you are able to now.
A bowl of that of a night, a free school meal + a bowl of porridge made with water in the morning won't be much much fun, but it'll keep your kids going in hard times.
IF you can spare the cash now, building up a more exciting emergency food stash by buying an extra tin of beans/fruit a week could turn out to be the smartest thing you've ever done.
The late spring means food prices will rise again this year, after last summer's bad harvest. Fuel & heating costs are also outstripping inflation. Council tax will tip many families over the edge. Those on mortgages do not get HB any way in the event of losing their jobs, the new housing allowances are bringing those in rental accomodation into line with homeowners on benefits.
I'm just hoping the introduction of UC doesn't coincide with a bad winter. The winter death stats due to fuel poverty in the UK are already shocking.