Tag: skipping meals

One in seven skipping meals due to rising cost of living, Which? finds

One in seven people have skipped meals due to the rising cost of living, new Which? research finds, as the consumer champion calls on the government and essential businesses – such as energy companies, supermarkets and telecoms firms – to take action to help consumers. 

According to the latest findings from Which?’s Consumer Insight Tracker, a worrying number of households are going without food and sitting in cold homes due to the rising cost of living.

One in seven (15%) said they had skipped meals – compared to one in eight (12%) in November. The new findings also showed nearly one in ten (9%) had prioritised meals for other family members above themselves and 4 per cent had used a food bank.

Jackie Rudd, aged 72 and from West Suffolk, has found that rising energy prices have left less room in her budget for grocery shopping. This has meant she is now skipping meals two to three times per week.

She said: “The last week of the month, meals are missed – if you have no money for a loaf then there’s no lunch and if there’s no milk, then there’s no breakfast. Basic groceries have gone up to stupid levels – the loaf of bread I usually buy has gotten smaller and more expensive.”

People are also looking for ways to save on their energy bills – with seven in ten (72%)  saying they have put the heating on less due to rising prices, four in 10 (39%) using less hot water and one in five (19%) having had fewer cooked meals.

Concerningly, three in ten (29%) respondents who said they had put their heating on less said they have often or always felt physically uncomfortable this winter as a result.

One 85-year-old man said: “The house is cold due to the cost of heating, so I am continually wearing layer upon layer of clothes. Saving money on heating allows more money for food.”

A 30-year-old man said: “Our house is cold a lot of the time because the high costs of gas and electric makes a warm house unaffordable.”

Which?’s Consumer Insight Tracker also found that an estimated 2.3 million households said they missed or defaulted on a vital payment – such as a mortgage, rent, credit card or bill payment – in the last month. This is in line with the number who missed payments in January 2023, demonstrating that financial difficulty has remained high in early 2023.

Six in ten (59%) people made at least one financial adjustment – such as cutting back on essentials, selling items or dipping into savings – in the last month to cover essential spending. This equates to an estimated 16.5 million households.

This is a significant increase from the half (52%) making financial adjustments this time last year, but lower than the peak of two-thirds (65%) making adjustments in September 2022.

Which? is calling on the government and essential businesses to take action to support consumers with the rising cost of living and higher energy bills from next month.

With the main energy bill support scheme coming to an end and the energy price guarantee scheduled to jump to £3,000 for an average household in April, consumers will face higher bills from next month. The government must urgently consider postponing increasing the energy price guarantee to £3,000 to help those struggling to make ends meet.

The consumer champion is also calling on essential businesses – such as supermarkets, energy and telecom providers – to ensure that people have access to the best value products and services across the UK.

For example, supermarkets should increase availability of affordable and healthy own-brand budget ranges throughout their branches. Telecoms providers should cancel 2023 inflationary price hikes for financially vulnerable consumers – and allow all customers to leave without penalty when prices are hiked mid-contract.

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “It’s hugely worrying that households across the country are forced to go hungry and sit in cold homes as they cannot afford basic essentials this winter.

“Which? is calling on the government and essential businesses to do more to support their customers through this extraordinary cost of living crisis.

“With energy bills due to rise in April, the government must urgently consider postponing its decision to increase the energy price guarantee to £3,000. For some families, who continue to be battered by high inflation, this will offer an important lifeline to stop them falling into financial distress.”

“We are having to skip meals”: Families bear brunt of cost of living crisis as Scots cut back on eating and heating

One in ten consumers in Scotland are skipping meals, new Which? research suggests, as the consumer champion calls on essential businesses to do more to support people through the cost of living crisis.

The consumer champion carried out extensive research with more than 1,000 people representative of the Scottish population to understand how the cost of living crisis is affecting Scottish consumers.

Which? research found financial pressures are leading consumers in Scotland to make choices that could be harmful to their health. One in ten (11%) are skipping meals due to rising food costs – with parents hit particularly hard by this.

One in five (22%) of more than 250 parents in the Scottish survey are prioritising feeding other family members over eating themselves – compared to 8 per cent of the population overall.

One 55-year-old woman said: “We are having to skip meals, not have the heating on and not going out due to fuel costs”.

Nearly eight in 10 (77%) said they had been putting the heating on less due to energy price rises – compared to just under half (46%) last year. 15 per cent of Scottish consumers had been eating fewer cooked meals to save on energy costs and 2 per cent had used a food bank.

A 42-year-old respondent said: “I’m heating the house to a maximum of 15 Degrees… Eating cold things like sandwiches etc. instead of using the cooker”.

Almost nine in 10 consumers said they were worried about energy prices (89%), while concern around food and housing costs have increased sharply compared to the previous year.

The proportion of people worried about food prices increased by 10 percentage points to almost nine in 10 (87%) in December 2022, compared to eight in 10 (77%) in 2021 and six in 10 (63%) in 2020.

Which?’s research shows how justified these concerns about price rises are. The consumer champion estimates that if consumers in Scotland tried to maintain the same spending habits they would need to spend an additional £40 per week – or around £2,080 a year – on food, energy and fuel in December 2022 compared with December 2021. That would mean almost a third (29%) of their household expenditure would be spent on just these essential goods.

This has led many households to make adjustments to cover essential spending. Nearly six in 10 (56%) consumers in Scotland said their household had made at least one adjustment to cover essential spending in the last month, up from nearly half (48%) in 2021 and nearly four in 10 (37%) in 2020. The most common adjustment was cutting back on essentials – which increased to four in 10 (39%) from a quarter (25%) in 2021.

Which?’s research also found that some household types are being hit harder than others by the cost of living crisis. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of parents in Scotland surveyed had to make adjustments to cover essential spending, compared to just over a third (35%) of pensioners.

Only four in 10 (37%) working-age parents surveyed in Scotland say that they are living comfortably or doing alright – compared to half (50%) of Scottish consumers overall.

These financial pressures are causing widespread emotional harm among Scottish consumers. Nearly half (45%) of consumers in Scotland said that concerns around the cost of living have left them feeling anxious and more than a fifth (22%) said they were struggling to sleep due to worries about the cost of living.

A 34-year-old woman said: “I’m severely depressed and worried all the time about being able to pay my bills and have enough money to feed and clothe my kids as well as electricity and gas to heat my home.

“It’s having a massive effect on my mental health, I feel anxious and stressed out all the time”.

A 54-year-old man said: “I’m having sleepless nights worrying what else is rising in price”.

With the UK heading into recession, mortgages and rent costs rising and the energy price guarantee becoming less generous from April, Scottish consumers will only face further financial pressures in 2023.

Which? recently launched a campaign calling on essential businesses – energy firms, broadband providers and supermarkets – to do more to help consumers struggling to make ends meet. For example, supermarkets must ensure that budget line items are widely available, make pricing and offers more transparent and provide targeted promotions to support people that are struggling most with access to affordable food.

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “It’s hugely concerning that people in Scotland are losing sleep, skipping meals and sitting in the cold due to rising prices.

“As the cost of living crisis puts huge pressure on household finances, we are calling on businesses in essential sectors like food, energy and broadband providers to do more to help customers get a good deal and avoid unnecessary or unfair costs and charges during this crisis.”