Millions of Britons cut down or skip meals amid cost-of-living crisis

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) - Some 5.7 million low-income households in Britain lack enough money for food, said a UK-based anti-poverty group on Monday, calling this the "horrendous new normal."

In its latest cost-of-living tracker published on Tuesday, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said exceptionally high food inflation combined with inadequate government support is leading people to make impossible choices about how often they eat and which foods they buy.

The overall number of low-income households going hungry or cutting or skipping meals is 5.7 million (48%), and the number of households going without other essentials like showers, transportation, and toiletries was 6.5 million (56%).

Rachelle Earwaker, senior economist at the foundation, said: “Over the past year people have been telling us about being unable to afford hot meals, shampoo, or a warm shower. We are seeing these levels of hardship persist and it has become a horrendous new normal. Higher prices will remain baked in, and cost of living payments, while necessary, are not even providing breathing space for people who desperately need it.”

The charity says extraordinary levels of food inflation are also forcing people into buying less fresh and healthy food and more packaged, processed, or less nutritious food. “We know that poverty is already having a profound impact on the nation’s health and we face the moral outrage of life expectancy falling for some groups. At the same time, hardship on this scale will drive yet more demand onto the National Health Service (NHS) over the years to come.”

According to data from the foundation, 1.7 million low-income households accessed the NHS for a mental or physical health concern, while 1.6 million wanted to access services but were unable to due to cost pressures or other issues such as long waiting times.