COPING WITH THE RISING COST OF LIVING

Rising bills have affected nearly everyone in Britain - but people in the most deprived areas have different strategies than the most affluent

Proportion of people who said their cost of living has increased in the last month by deprivation area

PEOPLE living in the most deprived areas of Britain are slashing their shopping budget while more affluent neighbours are investing in home improvements - as Britain struggles with the cost of living crisis.

More than nine in 10 adults (94%) say their costs have risen compared to last year, while three quarters (76%) say bills have also gone up in the last month.

But while the cost of living crisis is affecting the vast majority of adults, people in the most and least deprived areas of the nation are adopting different methods of coping with rising bills.

Around six in 10 people living in the most deprived areas say they have started restricting their spending on shopping for food and other essentials (58%), compared to only one in three of those living in the least deprived areas (33%).

Meanwhile, people living in the most affluent areas of the country are most likely to mitigate against the cost of living crisis by making energyefficiency improvements to their homes, for example by fitting insulation, draught-proofing, or investing in an energy-efficient boiler.

More than a third of people living in the least deprived areas have attempted to cut their energy bills in this way (35%), compared to one in four people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods (24%).

There was no clear trend in people turning their heating down or off based on deprivation - although 65% of people living in the most deprived areas said they were trying to use less energy, compared to 57% of people in the least deprived neighbourhoods.

But people living in some medium areas of deprivation were even more likely to take steps to reduce their energy bills by cutting consumption.

The results come from a regular survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics to measure public opinions and social trends.

The survey also found that threequarters of all adults (77%) are very or somewhat worried about rising costs of living, but that rises to 84% among people living in the most deprived fifth of areas and shrinks to 70% in the least deprived fifth.

Just under half of all adults who pay energy bills said they found it very or somewhat difficult to afford them (45%). But more than six in 10 bill payers in the most deprived areas said they were struggling to meet rising costs (63%), compared to around one in three (35%) in the most affluent areas.

One in 10 adults living in the most deprived areas said they were behind in their gas and electricity bills (10%), while only one in 50 were struggling to pay in the least deprived areas (2%).

Among all adults who have their gas or electricity supplied to their home, around one in 25 were behind in their bills (4%).