Rising costs mean more misery to come for households

Households are facing more misery to come because of rising costs, economic experts have warned.

Low and middle-income campaign group The Resolution Foundation says the latest inflation figures were "bad news for everyone".

The latest inflation figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said inflation rose to 9.4% in June – up from 9.1% in May.

Food prices were rising faster than the headline rate at 9.8% - which was a "disaster for poorer households", said Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation.

The foundation said the poorest tenth of households were effectively experiencing an inflation rate of 10.6% because of the proportion of their income spent on food and fuel.

For the richest 10% of households the effective rate was around nine per cent.

Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: "Rising petrol and food prices sent inflation ever closer to double digits last month.

"But this is already a reality for low-income families as they spend a greater share of their budgets on essentials like food and energy bills.

"While high inflation won't last forever, it is likely to be with us for some time as energy bills soar again this winter. This will mean further falls in real pay."

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), which aims to address poverty in the UK, said ministers must get a grip on the crisis.

Rebecca McDonald, chief economist at the JRF, said: "With inflation wiping out pay increases, the cost-of-living crisis is only worsening and no time can be lost in preparing the country for profoundly difficult months to come.”