One in eight people in Bristol are missing meals or not eating food because they can’t afford it and more than half of all the people in Bristol have cut back on the amount of hot water, heating or electricity they are using in their homes, according to data from a huge survey of the cost of living crisis.
And more than half the people living in the east of Bristol have cut back on the amount they are spending on food, the survey by polling data company Opinium revealed.
The survey, which polled five times more people across the country than usual opinion polls, revealed the extent of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, with pay packets in Bristol set to be worth around £1,200 a year less this year in real terms, than in 2021.
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The Opinium poll surveyed 10,495 adults in the last five days of September this year - only days after the disastrous mini-budget of September 23 which eventually led to Liz Truss’s resignation as Prime Minister.
The survey found one in eight people in Bristol are missing meals or going without food because they are so short of money, and just under half are cutting back on the amount they are spending on food this autumn. A figure which rises to nearly one in six people in South Bristol.
The south west regional secretary of the TUC, Nigel Costley, said the findings were a ‘stark reminder’ of the cost of living pressures facing households in Bristol, and action was needed to be taken by the Government. “No one should have to worry about putting food on the table or heating their homes,” he said. “But households across the region are struggling to cover even the basics. This polling lays bare Bristol’s cost of living emergency. Food and energy bills are soaring, but real wages are plummeting.
“Unless we get pay rising across the economy – and ensure benefits rise in line with inflation - we risk heading towards Victorian levels of poverty. The Conservatives should be working with unions to help households get through this crisis. But they want to make it harder for working people to win better pay and conditions,” he added.
“Instead of giving bungs to bankers and big business, ministers need to get money into people’s pockets. That’s the best way to boost spending in local economies and to deliver lasting growth,” he added.
The survey found that, across Bristol and South Gloucestershire, 53.91 per cent of people were cutting back on hot water, heating or electricity they are using. That rose to 56.5 per cent in the Bristol North West Constituency, and was lowest in Bristol West - although it was still above 50 per cent.
Meanwhile 44.65 per cent of people across Bristol and South Gloucestershire were cutting back on food spending. That rose to above half in Bristol East, where 52.37 per cent of people said they were. In Thornbury and Yate, that figure dropped to 37.4 per cent.
The survey also found that across Bristol and South Gloucestershire, 12.44 per cent of people - one in eight - had missed meals or gone without food because they couldn’t afford to eat. That was below ten per cent in Kingswood and Thornbury and Yate, but at 15.6 per cent in South Bristol.
And eight per cent of people said they had been forced to miss a payment on a household bill recently, although that figure was up to 11.45 per cent in Bristol West, and above ten per cent in Bristol East, but below five per cent in Kingswood.
The TUC’s Nigel Costley said the findings show the Government should stick to plans to uprate universal credit, benefits and pensions in line with inflation, bringing that forward to April. “This must be the first step on a route to higher levels of universal credit, benefits and pensions,” he said. “The Government must get pay rising across the economy by backing trade unions and allowing unions to negotiate pay rises across whole sectors. Give key workers in the public sector cost of living-proofed pay rises, and raise the minimum wage to £15 an hour as soon as possible,” he added.
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