UK Economic Crisis Getting Worse, One in Seven People Skip Meals
- Gareth Fuller/PA.
VIVA – According to new survey data released by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the economic crisis in the UK is getting worse and it is causing one in seven people to skip meals or go out to activity without food.
Data from the MRP’s Survey by Opinium reveals that more than half of Britons are cutting back on heating, hot water, and electricity to keep the cost of living down. One in 12 people is in arrears in paying their household bills.
With inflation hitting 10 percent, the poll found that one in seven Britons has skipped a meal. That figure then rose to one in five people in nearly 50 areas of the UK starving.
It revealed that Birmingham Ladywood was the constituency with the highest number of people holding back hunger at 29 percent, followed by Dundee West at 27 percent, Glasgow at 24 percent, and Rhondda at 24 percent.
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The proportion of people in the UK who skip meals and for people to enter and leave work is 14 percent. While about 44 percent said they should reduce food spending.
The Trades Union Congress said the discovery about the cost of living was a stark reminder of the pressures facing households across the UK.
It also calls on the government to stick to plans to raise universal credit, benefits, and pensions in line with inflation, increase public sector wages in line with inflation, and raise the minimum wage to £15 per hour.
It said polls revealed that nearly seven in 10 people in the UK supported raising the minimum wage to £15 an hour.
The TUC Secretary General, Frances O'Grady, stated the survey revealed the emergency costs of living in the UK. Food and energy bills soared, but real wages plunged.
"Unless we get a pay rise across the economy and ensure benefits increase in line with inflation, we risk moving towards poverty levels." Frances O'Grady remarked.
A government spokesman said the government was determined to provide work wages by April and increase the national living wage to £9.50. This is the biggest increase since its introduction in 2016.
"We know the pressures people face with rising costs, which is why we support people with their bills including vulnerable households that receive £1,200 direct payments on top of guaranteed energy prices." A government spokesman explained.
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