Team Blitz India
Alittle over half (53%) of adults in the United Kingdom said their cost of living has remained the same over the last month, with 1% saying it had decreased, said a recent report.
And 46% said their cost of living had increased over the last month, this proportion has gradually decreased since April 2023 (76% in the period 22 March to 2 April 2023), it added.
These were findings by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its latest ‘Social insights on daily life and events from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) relating to the biggest issues facing society today’.
The most common reasons cited for an increased cost of living continued to be rises in the price of food shopping (92%), the price of gas and electricity bills (78%) or of fuel (47%).
Around 39% of adults who pay rent or mortgage payments reported finding it very or somewhat difficult to afford them; this proportion was at its highest in summer 2023 (46% in the period 28 June to 9 July 2023). About 4 in 10 adults who pay energy bills (43%) reported finding it very or somewhat difficult to afford them; this proportion was at its highest in May 2023 (49% in the period 17 to 29 May 2023).
The study found 37% adults reporting they had spent more than usual to get what they normally buy when food shopping within the past two weeks; this proportion appears relatively stable in recent months since declining from half (50%) in the period October 4 to 15, 2023.
When asked if industrial action had affected them in the past month, around three-quarters (75%) said they had not been affected; the most commonly reported impacts were spending more money on travel (9%), being unable to take part in leisure activities (8%), and being unable to travel for holiday or leisure as planned (7%).
