Over 60% of people feel they will have to cut back spending money on food in the coming year due to the cost of living crisis, new research has found.
A report by Permanent TSB called ‘Reflecting Ireland’ also found that 53% of people worry they will be unable to pay higher energy bills.
Just over 1,000 people took part in the survey and 535 of respondents said they feel they are less well off than they were a year ago, a huge increase from the 32% in January.
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Claire Cogan, a behaviour scientist and founder of the consultancy Behaviour Wise there is a “concerning rise in levels of pessimism and anxiety” over the rising cost of living.
She said: “The overall sense is one of pessimism and it's really driven by two factors.
“The first is uncertainty about where all of this is going because as recently as three months ago, most people thought this inflationary cycle would be a temporary blip and that we would emerge from it during the year 2022.
“But since the war in Ukraine, all bets are off and people don't believe anymore that it's temporary.
“And 85% actually believe the cost of living is going to get much worse over the coming year. “Then the second factor is that people are afraid that their income won't keep pace with rising costs.
“So we're hearing one in three expect to receive a pay increase this year.
“But even within that group, two thirds don't believe it will be enough to compensate for rising costs, and then half of us don't expect to receive a pay increase at all.
“It does show that people are really internalising what's going on in the economy and what that means for their personal financial situation,” she told RTÉ.
The survey also showed a far greater appetite among consumers for switching to other services to save money.
Over 50% of respondents said they plan to switch power or gas providers, up from 49% last year.
And 47% plan to switch car insurers, up from 38%, while 46% plan to switch TV or broadband providers, up from 38%.
Government Ministers have signalled that there will be no further support before the Budget and have said the State has already spent €2.4 billion to help households across the country.
Tanáiste Leo Varadkar indicated in the Dáil on Thursday that the Government will move to help with the cost of living crisis by scrapping some hospital charges for adults and cutting the cost of childcare.
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