Over 40% of voters feel worse off than last year with one in three also cutting back on non-essential items, a new poll has found.
With just days to go until Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her first Budget, the survey shows the cost-of-living crisis still hitting family budgets. The YouGov poll for the Stop the Squeeze campaign group found 43% of the public saying their personal financial situation has got worse since October 2023.
Almost four in ten (38%) said their situation was about the same – compared to just 17% who said it had improved, including 3% who said “a lot better”.
The research shared with The Mirror shows 17% of people are struggling to afford basic essentials like food, utility bills and housing costs. And almost one in three (29%) said that while they can afford the essentials, they have to cut back on non-essential spending a lot.
The poll also finds voters want the Chancellor to prioritise fixing the NHS with extra funding for the health service. The second highest priority was tackling the cost-of-living crisis, followed by tax cuts for working people, reducing poverty and funding for schools.
Among those surveyed, tax cuts for businesses is the area voters want to be prioritised the least, followed by defence spending. Megan Davies from Stop the Squeeze campaign said: “Inflation may have dropped, but hardly anyone in Britain is feeling better off with prices still rising and the cost of living crisis hitting family budgets.”
She added: “The public’s view is clear; the new government needs to focus on the cost of living alongside the NHS in the Budget and put in place a real plan for an affordable Britain.
“That means the Government ensuring that the essentials of life like food, housing and energy remain affordable for everyone, and reforming our broken social security system so that everyone has access to a living income. And it means reforming the tax system so that those who earn and own the most, pay their proper share.”
Dr. Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation, added: “Inflation may have fallen but the cost of living is still hurting households. Our groceries, energy bills, rent and childcare costs are all still higher than they were a few years ago and incomes aren’t keeping up, with wages in two-thirds of the country lower now than in 2008.
“Failures over recent years have made the cost of living crisis more painful than it needed to be.
YouGov interviewed 2,152 adults between 17-18 October online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).