Half of adults buy less food to cope with rising costs – survey

Nearly half of adults in the UK are buying less food as the cost-of-living crisis squeezes wallets across the country.

New data from the Office for National Statistics revealed on Friday that 49% of people said their shopping trolleys are less full than before.

The survey was carried out between June 22 and July 3 and marks a rapid increase in the figure.

In the previous survey, between June 8 and June 19, only four in 10 (43%) of adults said that they were buying less food.

We asked how worried respondents were regarding a range of issues, and the most frequently reported worries (very or somewhat worried) were

📈 rising cost of living (78%)🇺🇦 conflict in Ukraine (77%)🌍 environment (57%)😷 new variants of #COVID19 (49%)https://t.co/zTj0NFOsgO

— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 8, 2022

Nine in 10 people (91%) reported that their cost of living had risen over the last month – this was the same as the previous survey.

The same proportion also said they had done at least one thing to reduce their energy bills.

Experts recommend turning down thermostats during the winter if possible – but also reducing the so-called flow temperature on a boiler.

The latter can reduce gas usage without impacting how much a home is heated.

The survey also found that concerns over Covid-19 grew between the surveys.

Officials said that 49% of respondents were worried about new Covid variants in the latest survey, compared to 41% in the survey before.

They also said that 39% were worried about the impact of the pandemic on their lives, compared to 32% previously.

But many more were worried about the cost of living (78%) and the war in Ukraine (77%), while 57% said they were concerned about the environment.

Households have come under increasing pressure in the last few months as bills and food prices soar.

The increases have been the worst for the households on the lowest incomes who already spent a majority of their incomes on the bare essentials.

The price of energy to heat and run homes increased by 54% at the start of April, and is expected to rise even further in October, potentially by another £1,000 per year.