By Denis Sheehan, Publisher, H&C News: Cost of Living Crisis forces 39% of people to cut spending on eating out.
Polling by YouGov has shown eating out and takeaways are among the main areas people are being forced to cut back on due to the Cost of Living Crisis.
YouGov polled 2,132 UK adults between 12-13 May 2022 amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The results show around two in five people have been forced to cut back or stop spending on clothes (44%), eating out (39%), non-essential food items (39%), and takeaways (38%) over the last six months.
Three in ten people say they have been forced to cut back or stop spending on household essentials such as staple essential food items (31%) including one in five who have reduced spending by switching to cheaper alternatives.
And, despite summer fast approaching, many people have already been forced to cut back or stop spending on day trips (31%) and holidays (30%), with around one in ten (11%) saying they have been forced to stop spending on holidays altogether.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, luxury items (36%) and beauty services (29%) also see a significant proportion of people saying they have been forced to cut back or stop spending over the last six months, including one in eight (13%) Britons who have stopped spending on luxury items altogether.
With fuel prices one of the areas having seen a particular rise in cost, just over a quarter of people (27%) say they have been forced to reduce or stop spending on fuel over the last 6 months.
Yesterday Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley announced that the energy price cap, which limits how much energy providers can raise prices, is expected to increase to £2,800 a year, due to continued volatility in gas prices.
Mr Brearley said the price rises were a “once in a generation event not seen since the oil crisis in the 1970s”. He also said the number of people in fuel poverty may double to 12 million.
Meanwhile there is silence from No 10 and No 11 Downing Street on any interventions to help people and businesses struggling with the Cost of Living Crisis.
