Families struggle, as cost of food soars
Katy Morton
Thursday, October 13, 2011
One in six parents in the UK has gone without a meal so that they can put food on the table for their family, according to new research.
The Ipsos MORI poll of more than 1,500 adults, commissioned by Oxfam, found that families are struggling to afford to feed their children, with 80 per cent of people living in poverty in the UK affected by the rise of the cost of living.
Findings from the poll reveal that families are spending on average 50 per cent of their disposable income (not taking into account household costs), approximately £92 a week, on food.
However three in ten said their household survives on a food shopping budget of less than £50 a week.
According to the charity, in the last five years food prices have been rising at more than twice the rate of the National Minimum Wage and at nearly twice the rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Oxfam claim that the rise in the cost of fuel has also proved crippling for some families who not only have to make choices about what they can afford to buy, but how much fuel they need to cook.
Figures from the poll showed that over a third of households spend more than £30 a week on their gas and electricity bills.
Kate Wareing, Oxfam’s director of UK poverty, said, ‘Because so many people in the country are living on precariously low incomes, managing household budgets is pretty much like a daily tightrope walk.
‘Trying to balance the spiralling costs of food and fuel means that anything else people may need to budget for - like paying for their child to go on a school trip or fixing a broken washing machine - are simply out of the question.’
Findings from the poll reveal that families are spending on average 50 per cent of their disposable income (not taking into account household costs), approximately £92 a week, on food.
However three in ten said their household survives on a food shopping budget of less than £50 a week.
According to the charity, in the last five years food prices have been rising at more than twice the rate of the National Minimum Wage and at nearly twice the rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Oxfam claim that the rise in the cost of fuel has also proved crippling for some families who not only have to make choices about what they can afford to buy, but how much fuel they need to cook.
Figures from the poll showed that over a third of households spend more than £30 a week on their gas and electricity bills.
Kate Wareing, Oxfam’s director of UK poverty, said, ‘Because so many people in the country are living on precariously low incomes, managing household budgets is pretty much like a daily tightrope walk.
‘Trying to balance the spiralling costs of food and fuel means that anything else people may need to budget for - like paying for their child to go on a school trip or fixing a broken washing machine - are simply out of the question.’
