Cost of living crisis: Adults in Northern Ireland going without food so children can eat

The news comes as the Office of National Statistics revealed that UK inflation slowed last month but food and drink prices continued to soar.

The Consumer Council carried out research to explore the lived experience for consumers in Northern Ireland regarding the barriers and concerns they have regarding food.

The in-depth study of 22 participants found that all of them had seen their food costs increase, some by as much as £40 per week, depending on household size.

The Consumer Council said that in response to rising costs, consumers are shopping around to find better value, actively looking for deals and promotions, buying more supermarket own brand products, reducing the amount of ‘treats’ or looking for cheaper alternatives, doing more batch cooking, and some shop online to monitor their spend and limit impulse buys.

They said that for those households struggling the most, some parents discussed going without to make sure their children had enough to eat.

The Consumer Council are also currently undertaking research through focus groups with consumers on the impact of rising food costs with the results due in the coming months.

Meanwhile according to the latest Northern Ireland Household Expenditure Tracker the Province’s lowest earning households have seen their discretionary income fall by almost half (47.2%) over the last year (from £35.25 to £18.63), meaning they now have less than £19 per week to spend after their bills and living expenses.

Anne-Marie Murphy, Director of Strategy & Emerging Markets at the Consumer Council, said: “Between October to December 2022, the lowest earning households in Northern Ireland continued to be disproportionately impacted by changes in inflation, interest rates and the cost of living.

“With each publication of our NI Household Expenditure Tracker, we continue to see a decline in discretionary income for Northern Ireland’s lowest earning households. What they have left to spend has dropped by another 10% this quarter at a time when essentials like food were increasing. These hardest hit households were the only income group to see a drop in their spending power.”

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation fell to 10.1% in March from 10.4% in February.

Economists had forecast inflation would be 9.8% for the month.

The high level of inflation continues to keep pressure on the Bank of England regarding interest rates, with inflation still heavily above the 2% target rate.

The ONS revealed food prices increased by 19.1% year-on-year, the sharpest jump since August 1977.

Bread, cereals and fruit prices increased, while the impact of vegetable shortages also continued to weigh on inflation.

Meanwhile, clothing and footwear prices rose by 7.2% year on year, although this represented a slight slowdown against February’s data.

Restaurant and hotel prices also continued to rise, at 11.3%, but also saw inflation cool from the previous month.

Increases were partly offset by lower fuel costs, with petrol and diesel costs down 5.9% against the same month last year after prices had spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.