Record 7.4m UK households skip essentials as food inflation stays high
A record 7.4 million low-income UK households are unable to afford basic essentials like food and heating, demonstrating how persistent food inflation continues to undermine the broader economic recovery.
Four years into the cost of living crisis, 62% of the UK's poorest families could not afford an essential item in the past six months, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). This figure, equivalent to 7.4 million households, is up from 7.1 million a year ago. The data comes from the charity's tracker of 4,000 people in the lowest 40% of incomes.
The crisis highlights a troubling divergence between headline economic improvements and the reality for poorer consumers. While the government points to a 5% rise in real household incomes and falling food bank usage, food inflation averaged 4.1% between May 2025 and May 2026. This outpaced the overall inflation rate of 3.6%, hitting low-income families disproportionately because food makes up a larger share of their spending.
Newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised to cut VAT on electricity bills from October, saving households roughly £45 annually. However, economists and charities warn this is insufficient given the scale of the problem. "With incomes failing to keep pace with the high cost of essentials, many of the people we see are left facing impossible decisions," said Juliette Flachm, Acting Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Christians Against Poverty.
The statistical shift is visible in individual spending habits. Elaine Yates, a 77-year-old widow in rural Northamptonshire, spends more on petrol than food and keeps her heating at 13C. "I don't look after myself. I can't remember the last time I put the oven on," she said, noting she sits outside shops while friends buy clothes because she cannot afford to join them.
JRF chief economist Chris Belfield said Burnham takes office at a time when the crisis "has never been more widely felt," urging interventions in rental prices, energy costs, and Universal Credit. The government counters that it is turning the tide through an above-inflation increase to Universal Credit, a £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund, and removing the two-child benefit limit.
There are signs that targeted energy policies can ease the burden. The number of poorer households unable to heat their homes has fallen by half a million over two years after the government cut average bills by roughly £150 through green levy changes and the Warm Home Discount. Yet, with 35% of UK adults worrying about finances daily, the pressure remains on policymakers to close the gap between general inflation and the cost of survival.
