Now envelopes are delivered to history
They’re out of our shopping basket in its latest update
A NOTE of thanks, a birthday card, a hand-written message from a far-flung place – envelopes landing on the doormat have often held a certain excitement.
But it seems they have now been delivered to the annals of history.
The Office for National Statistics has dropped them from the shopping basket used to calculate changes in the cost of living. This decision indicates that the rise of email and online instant messaging services such as WhatsApp has effectively rendered envelopes redundant.
Once a year, the ONS updates the list of products and services used to measure price changes to better reflect how people live their lives and spend their money. Also off the list this year are traditional three-piece lounge suites, hi-fis capable of playing CDs, cassettes and records, crockery sets and washing powder.
However, one tradition is making a comeback. Due, in part, to programmes such as the Great British Bake Off, the ONS has added baking tins to the inflation shopping basket.
Also being added are smart speakers, such as Amazon’s Echo, fruity and herbal teas, and shop-bought popcorn.
Washing gel is replacing washing powder on the list, and adult hats such as beanies or flat caps are being added.
The loss of the envelope is a particularly telling indicator of the impact of technology on lifestyles and the fact very few people send and receive letters in the modern era. In other changes, such as the ousting of the traditional lounge suite, the ONS appears to have recognised the effect of cheap, readily available Ikea-style furniture on home decor choices. It said: ‘ Lounge furniture is increasingly bought as a combination of single items, such as corner units or settees, and not in the traditional three-piece suite format. ‘Similarly, dinner plates have replaced crockery sets, with more people buying crockery items individually than as part of traditional sets.’ The ONS also said some items were added to represent market growth in specific areas, such as the introduction of flavoured teas, ‘due to their increased popularity shown by the shelf space devoted to them in stores’. Currently, the ONS collects
‘Very few people send letters’
around 180,000 separate prices every month to establish the Consumer Price Index and the Retail Price Index.
These measure inflation and set a benchmark for price increases in items from train tickets to pensions.
Philip Gooding, senior statistician at the ONS, said: ‘We want to reflect modern spending habits, and the alterations we have made highlight shifting consumer behaviour, whether that is in technology, the home or the way we communicate with one another.’
The ONS has also split its monitoring of fizzy drinks into two to include the price of both regular and sugar-free drinks. This is designed to measure the impact of the Sugar Tax, introduced last April, which has added 8p to the price of a typical can of regular Coca-Cola.