Low income households struggle with living costs in UK

30 June 2022 - Low-income households in the UK are struggling to pay bills as energy, travel and now food prices are on the rise. The Joseph Rowntree foundation surveyed about 4,000 low-income households. They are defined as families with an income under 25,000 pounds for a couple without children. The polls found that 2.3 million families were going without sufficient food or heating.

Following the ongoing cost of living crisis, shops have reached the highest rate of inflation since 2008. Figures by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that food inflation went from 4.3% in the month of May to 5.6% in June. Fresh foods are especially affected, due to the hike in fertiliser and animal feed costs. Fresh food inflation stood at 6.2% in June.

BRC also reported an increase in packaged food prices from 4% in May to 4.8% in June. The Chief Executive of BRC, Helen Dickinson stated that retailers continue to direct their focus towards protecting customers and absorb as many costs as possible.

The head of retail and business insight at NielsenIQ, a market data provider, said customers were gravitating towards more economical items. Research by the Data provider indicates that sales of grains, dry pasta, canned beans and frozen poultry increased in the four weeks up to 18 June. On the other hand, expenditure on beer, wine, spirits and "general merchandise" dropped rapidly as consumers became more mindful of their purchases. 

You can contribute to more information about the cost of living in the UK by taking our survey here.