Bleak Christmas for struggling British families

LONDON — Tears rolled down the cheeks of Christine Haycock, when her eldest daughter Emily decided to use her pocket money to buy a new jumper for her.

"That really got to me, a 9-year-old child understanding the plight we are in," the 42-year-old mother of three told Xinhua News Agency at her home in an industrial town on the outskirts of Liverpool in northwestern England.

Haycock was struggling to make ends meet as Christmas drew near. A few weeks ago, Haycock went to a food bank for the first time to collect some essential provisions to feed her family.

"I was upset to think I'd get to the point when I needed a food bank, thinking this is what I have to do to get us through Christmas," she said.

Amid the cost of living crisis, Haycock was not alone. Between April and September, more than 320,000 people in the United Kingdom walked into the food banks of The Trussell Trust for the first time, and 1.3 million emergency food parcels were provided across the country.

Haycock used old blankets against doors and windows to keep the cold draughts from coming in.

"Things have never been as bad as this, and the cold weather is not helping. I'm looking forward to Christmas for the sake of the kids, but not so much for myself," she said.

Driven mainly by soaring energy prices, inflation in the UK has been running high this whole year, reaching successive records. In October, households paid 88.9 percent more on average for electricity, gas and other fuels than a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said. Domestic gas prices in October, in particular, were more than double what they were a year earlier.

High inflation

"I am checking my bank balance every day to make sure I don't go over," Haycock said. "My monthly energy bill had doubled from 120 pounds ($145) a month to 222 pounds, which has made life this year more of a struggle."

Rising food prices also made a large contribution to inflation. Food and nonalcoholic beverage prices rose 16.5 percent in the 12 months to November, and the annual inflation rate for this category has risen for 16 consecutive months, according to the ONS.

Some families across the UK during this cold Christmas have to juggle household incomes between staying warm or buying food, said Keith Baker, a research fellow in fuel poverty and energy policy at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.

"For 2023, I'd just like enough money to get by. It doesn't seem a lot to wish for," Haycock said.

Xinhua