Cost of living crisis due to get worse next year, research suggests

Research by the Resolution Foundation impact has predicted that the biggest impact of falling living standards is yet to hit, with the average household set to be left £2,100 worse off by the end of the next financial year.

After housing costs, the typical income for a working age family is set to drop by 3 per cent in the year to the end of March, followed by a 4 per cent drop over the following 12 months.

The 7 per cent total fall will hit families harder than during the financial crisis more than a decade ago which reached about 5 per cent between 2010 and 2012.

It would leave households worse off than they were before the pandemic until 2028, the think tank said.

Though the crisis has not reached the half-way stage, the report’s authors said that millions are now financially struggling far more than before the pandemic.

Survey results suggested that 23 per cent of adults said they couldn’t afford the replace or repair electrical goods such as fridges or washing machines, three times as many people as before Covid-19 emerged.

Meanwhile 11 per cent of people said they went hungry because they did not have enough money, compared to 5 per cent before the pandemic.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor and Leeds MP, said: “To hear that we are only halfway through this Conservative cost-of-living crisis will alarm many families, and again brings home the profound damage this Government has done over the years.

“Britain deserves so much more than the 13 years of Tory rule which have left growth on the floor, wages squeezed, living standards plummeting and our public services crumbling.”

It comes as the patient watchdog warned that there is a rising number of people who are putting off seeking healthcare due to additional costs such as travel.

Many are so worried about cash they are also refusing dental care or not collecting prescriptions, according to Healthwatch England.

The patient champion organisation said it was “worried” about the consequences of people avoiding vital care as it called for Government action.

It conducted a tracker poll of patients, to assess the impact of spiralling costs on how people use health and care services.

The new poll of 2,000 adults in England, the number of people who avoided an NHS appointment due to the cost of travel rose from 6 per cent in October to 11 per cent in December.

Meanwhile, in December, 10 per cent said they had avoided buying over the counter medication they normally rely on, up 3 cent from October.

Louise Ansari, national director of Healthwatch England, said: “It is clear that the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on people’s health and wellbeing is beginning to hit home.

“The cost of living should never be a barrier to healthcare. The increase in the number of people avoiding vital care needs urgent joint action from the Government and health and care services.”

Meanwhile thousands of junior doctors in England will start voting on Monday on whether to strike over pay in the latest outbreak of industrial unrest sweeping the country.

Around 45,000 members of the British Medical Association (BMA) are being balloted, with the result due at the end of February.

The BMA has told the Government that if there is a yes vote, junior doctors will begin their action with a 72-hour “full walkout” in March.

It urged the Health Secretary to meet doctors and negotiate a solution to avoid strikes.