One in seven have had to borrow money to afford their regular food bills
As the cost of day-to-day living rises, people are becoming less confident in their ability to afford food.
A new YouGov Realtime survey shows that one in six Britons say they’re not very confident (12%) or “not at all” confident (5%) that they can afford to feed their families at this current time.
While 76% of Britons are confident they have the money they need for food, 34% of the public say they are less sure they can afford to feed their families than they were this time last year, including 11% who are “much” less confident than they were 12 months ago.
Young people in particular are less likely to feel confident in their ability to feed themselves than their elders, with just over half of 18 to 24-year-olds (55%) saying they’re confident they can afford the food they need compared to 72-89% of the older age groups.
Britons are turning to foodbanks, loved ones and loan providers as they struggle to feed their families
While most Britons (87%) say they’ve never had to turn to a foodbank, more than a fifth of the public (22%) believe they’re now more likely to need one than they were a year ago.
And of the 9% of people who say they have used a foodbank at some point in their life, 60% visited within the last year, including 15% within the last week.
Over the past year, one in seven Britons (14%) have had to borrow money in order to afford their regular food bills. This includes 9% who borrowed money from loved ones, 3% entering into debt with loan providers and 5% borrowing money from ‘another source’ to do so. (Figures don’t sum to 14% as some people will have borrowed from more than one source)
Young people are more likely to have had to borrow money in order to pay their food bills, with 25% of 18-24 year olds having done so, compared to just 3% of the over-65s. There’s also a significant generation gap around foodbank use, with 14% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they’ve used one, compared just 3% of over-65s.
Picture: Getty
