Brits forced to decide: heating or eating?

The latest research by Post Office reveals 2 in 5 people had to make the decision between buying food versus other household bills such as heating, with food price increases (61%) and rise in energy bills (71%) given as key reasons for this. Worryingly 41% of this group have gone without food to feed other members of their family at some point over the last 12 months.

The research, which comes in payday week for millions of households, shows the impact of inflation in the UK as 38% of Brits have had to reduce spending on either food, essential household items or utilities in the last three months and 75% of these people have done so as a result of the increased cost of living. This includes increased food prices and rising energy bills. 76% of people who had to reduce their spending are also worried about their financial situation over the next three months.

This research comes as Post Office partners with anti-poverty charity, the Trussell Trust, which supports a nationwide network of over 1,300 food bank centres.  Last year, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network provided over 2.5m emergency food parcels to people in crisis, with nearly a million of these for children.

Aston spoke to Sophie Carre, head of partnerships & audience engagement at The Trussell Trust and Laura Joseph, customer experience director at Post Office.

Photo by Colin Watts on Unsplash