Cost of living crisis isn't over as one in four 'struggle' to make ends meet

One in four people say they are “struggling” to live on their current income, in a sign that Labour has failed to end the cost of living crisis. The figure of 26% is a record high, up from 16% recorded before the Covid pandemic.

Voters also believe taxes are too high and feel they are getting poor value for money, with trust in public services such as the NHS falling. The findings are published in the latest British Social Attitudes study. Professor Sir John Curtice, a Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Social Research, which conducted the survey, said voters were not convinced Labour’s policies such as cutting disability benefits and putting up taxes on employment would solve their problems.

Sir John said: “Rather than turning their back on the state, for the most part, the public are still inclined to look to government to provide solutions.”

But he warned: “This does not mean that voters are necessarily ready to back the various remedies that Labour have been offering to overcome the country’s difficulties. They are not necessarily prepared to embrace a dash for more infrastructure building, including perhaps not least anything that appears in their own backyard. Tightening up on disability benefits is potentially controversial too, as the government has already discovered.

“The political difficulty with these policies is there are potentially identifiable winners and losers, and it is often the losers who shout the loudest. Pursuing economic growth rather than tax rises as the route out of fiscal constraint will not necessarily be the easier path for Labour to tread.”

Inflation fell below the Bank of England’s target level of 2% in 2020 but rose again and currently stands at 3.4%. The cost of food actually rose by 4.4% over the past 12 months, with jam, chocolate and other sugary products up by 11% over the course of the year and the price of meat up 4.8% over 12 months.

Interest rates shot up at the end of 2021 after years of hovering between 1% and zero and the Bank of England official rate is currently 4.25%. It has meant mortgage costs rose for many homeowners.

Rents have also soared with the average private monthly rent increasing by 7.0%, to £1,339, in the 12 months to May 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Today, just 35% of the population say they are “living comfortably” - more than a third but significantly down from the 50% that said the same in 2018.