Counting the cost of living crisis

NationalWorld’s Uncovered podcast on supermarket price rises

Data shared by the Office for National Statistics is not revealing the full scale of the problem for people on lower incomes, according to the latest episode of Uncovered. xclusive research by E

NationalWorld’s team has over the past three months found significant price rises in even the budget brands of major supermarkets.

Uncovered spoke to Data and Investigations Editor Harriet Clugston about their datawhichshowsthataquarter of value range groceries at UK supermarkets saw price hikes last month, with almost 200 items affected.

NationalWorld has been trackingthepriceofalmost700 basic range products at Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons andAldi,takinganonlineprice snapshotonthefirstMondayof each month.

Between 2 May and 6 June price rises of up to 100% for 175 products across the five shops were recorded – up from around 100 the previous month.Afurtherfiveproducts increasedinpricesincethelast time they were available online.

Earlier this year food campaigner Jack Monroe tweetedabouthowinflation figures don’t capture the impact on poorer households.Thiswentviral and much research conducted by other organisations including NationalWorld and the experience of charities such as Feeding Britain and the Trussell Trust has borne this out.

Feeding Britain says NationalWorld’s research chimes with its own experienceofincreasingfoodpoverty, adding that low-income families across the country are “being clobbered” by rising costs for basic essentials.

Charity director Andrew Forsey (left) said the organisation had seen people who for the first time in their lives are struggling to put food on the table, including those in full-time work, and pensioners.

In the podcast Andrew agreed that Jack’s assertion was correct: “We have huge concerns both around people’s ability to afford and access nutritious and decent food and also the ability they have to store that food and prepare it at home.

“We’re hearing from families who have disconnected their fridges and freezes, who are frightened even to use their cooker to prepare food and in some cases people are unscrewing or removing light bulbstotryandsaveeverypenny they can on gas and electricity. So the concern is two-fold on how to actually afford and buy food, and then prepare and cook it at home.”

“What we see at Feeding Britain is that often when pressures are being applied to household budgets, food is the first item to be sacrificed because no one kicks you out or sends you to jail if you don’t buy food whereas they could do if you don’t pay the rent or the bills.”

n Uncovered is available on all podcast platforms now.