Over half – 52% – of voters aren't hopeful that living standards will improve under a new Government, a survey from Citizens Advice has found.
The charity helps someone with a cost-of-living issue every five seconds and has said that solutions to tackle falling living standards are missing from the election campaign.
And almost half – 43% – of UK voters told Citizens Advice that it’s more difficult to afford everyday essentials than it was six months ago, despite inflation having finally fallen to the target of 2% amid suggestions that the UK’s economy is beginning to pick up.
The charity has also released statistics about the staggering increase in the number of people it has helped with living standards issues since the last general election in 2019, with a 221% increase in people requiring food bank referrals or emergency support. It has also reported a 113% rise in the number of people helped because they’ve fallen behind on paying their energy bills.
Additionally, three times as many working people have been helped with access to food banks or emergency support.
These findings from Citizens Advice come as child poverty in working households is reported to be up by nearly a million since 2010, according to analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in June.
And two-fifths of Brits feel financially worse off than a year ago, as found by a Bluestone Mortgages report.
‘This is the living standards election’
Ahead of the election this Thursday (4 July), nearly 48% of voters have cited the cost of living or living standards as one of the most important factors influencing their vote. This comes second only to health and the NHS (58%), and ahead of immigration (31%) and the economy (28%).
Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “This is the living standards election. Voters will judge the next Government on what they’ll do to tackle this.
“We’re still helping someone every five seconds with a cost-of-living issue. That’s too many barely treading water, unable to move forward with their lives, and constantly worried about the next bill dragging them under completely.
“Tackling falling living standards requires more than just lip service. It’s vital we see action that’ll make a genuine difference to people’s lives within the first 100 days of a new Government.”
