People are ‘going without food to save money for rent', 'disconnecting the gas to save money’, ‘only eating food that doesn’t require cooking to save energy.'
Quakers speak out on cost-of-living crisis
'An estimated 1.5 million British households, one in twenty of the total, will soon face bills for food and energy that will exceed their disposable income after housing costs.'
Quaker Social Action (QSA) has launched an appeal aimed at helping people in the cost-of-living crisis.
The charity said that it is getting reports from its frontline workers and trainees that people are ‘going without food to save money for rent; disconnecting the gas to save money’; and ‘only eating food that doesn’t require cooking to save energy costs’. While it says that the rising cost of living is affecting everyone, people on the lowest incomes are bearing the brunt of its impact.
This tallies with reports from other poverty campaigners such as The Trussell Trust and Crisis.
The Office for National Statistics has warned that ‘energy price rises are likely to hit lower income households disproportionately, as they spend a higher proportion of their income on utility bills and are more likely to be in fuel poverty’.
According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, an estimated 1.5 million British households, one in twenty of the total, will soon face bills for food and energy that will exceed their disposable income after housing costs. The institute also forecasts that the UK will enter a recession in the second half of the year.
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) said that the measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis set out in the government’s agenda on 10 May ‘are nowhere near enough’. An article on the Quakers in Britain website expressed ‘alarm’ about the measures described on 10 May, slamming the government for failing ‘to tackle the acute crises of climate and cost of living’.
Paul Parker, recording clerk of BYM, said: ‘We seek a world which is peaceful and just. Yet our government is focusing on centralising power and winning the culture war, rather than tackling the key challenges of our time.’
To donate to QSA’s appeal, please visit its website, where there is also a page of resources to help with living costs.
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