Three quarters of lower-income families fear they will have to choose between buying food and buying Christmas presents, according to a new survey.
Surging food and living costs were forcing hard-up families to have to prioritise, the survey of food club users showed.
The Food Foundation, along with food hub provider The Bread & Butter Thing, surveyed 9,000 users across 120 hubs nationwide.
In total, 66% of respondents were worried about being able to afford enough food to feed themselves and their families over the Christmas period. The majority, 75%, were worried they would have to choose between food or buying presents for their children. This rose to 83% for parents living in social housing.
The data comes as the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the rate of food inflation slowed in November, rising by 0.3% to 9.2%, driven by falls in the cost of staples like bread, eggs and cereal. However, food costs on average 27% more than it did in November 2021. Energy costs also remain high, leaving many families with squeezed budgets over the Christmas period.
People in employment will struggle
Half of the respondents said they had a monthly budget of less than £50 after they had paid key bills for housing and electricity. Some 32% said they would be unable to afford an unexpected but necessary payment of £20 without needing to borrow money.
Over half of the 9,000 respondents lived in a household where the main income came through employment, showing that even those in work would face “tough times over Christmas”, the report said.
“Christmas is always such a stressful time of year for our communities where families are already stretched, struggling and juggling multiple priorities, caring responsibilities, low-paid work or illness, combined with the increased costs of childcare, travel and energy,” said Mark Game, CEO at The Bread & Butter Thing.
“These are people who have a lot on their plate. And our job is to make life easier for them. We know that our food service is a vital resource for them, which is why we’re there week in, week out, 52 weeks of the year.
“The cost of living crisis continues to drive footfall, with more people than ever signing up to use our affordable foodservice this winter and many of our 120 hubs oversubscribed,” Game added.
Priced out of healthy eating
The Food Foundation said the data was evidence that high food inflation was leaving many families “struggling to afford the food they need”. It called on the government to introduce a requirement that takes the cost of healthy and sustainable diets into account when setting minimum wage and benefit levels.
It adds to worrying data released in the campaign group’s latest annual Broken Plate report in July, which showed that households among the poorest fifth of the UK population were having to spend significantly more of their entire household budget on food compared with last year. The poorest fifth now need to spend more than half of their disposable income to meet the cost of the government’s Eatwell Plate guidelines.
“The survey of The Bread & Butter Thing members shows that, while Christmas is a time of celebration for some, others are feeling a huge amount of anxiety around being able to provide for their families,” said Shona Goudie, policy & advocacy manager at The Food Foundation.
“As we enter a new year, urgent government intervention is essential to tackle unacceptably high levels of food insecurity, guaranteeing everyone has sufficient income to have peace of mind that they can feed their children all year round.”
No comments yet