How the cost of living crisis will impact the young & single women with children.
The living crisis is here! and it’s far from it being over.
The cost of living crisis is going to impact a large number of people in the UK, but, according to a recent report from the Intergenerational Foundation think tank, it's the under 30s who will be hit the hardest. As they struggle with Covid-19, health care, social care and alongside that the students with student loans who will also face another cost as millions can expect higher bills. Next year the government will have frozen the thresholds at which repayments start …..No nothing is for free, and nothing comes without a cost.
The UK government’s latest budget announcement will have offered little (if any) light at the end of the tunnel for young people who are among those struggling to cope with the rising living costs. Back in March, the finance minister, Rishi Sunak stated in his Spring Statement, acknowledged that the Russia-Ukraine war was putting more pressure on the cost of living in England. Prices have already risen significantly also due to supply chain issues because of Brexit, of which has also had an impact on trade, let alone hit with the pandemic.
Data released on Wednesday, 23 March, showed that UK inflation was up 6.2% in February, and prices are expected to rise even further!! Sunak cited an Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that inflation will average 7.4% this year. To try and offer some relief from rising prices (not that it’s helping much), the Finance Minister announced an immediate cut to fuel taxes of 5p per litre for 12 months, effective now! However, experts are sceptical about how much this will really help young people and families.
The cost of living in the UK is becoming increasingly worrying for some. The price cap for energy bills has jumped by 54% in April when council tax also went up. This will impact the already rising food in grocery and transport costs, tax hikes and rent prices, which have increased nearly tenfold outside London while wages mostly still remain pretty much the same.
I quote on BBC new “Energy and tax plan will give rich families twice as much support” - Lizz Truss
This tax will not help those who will struggle the most at a time where low-income earners are just surviving.
According to ONS data from 2019, people living on their own spend an average of 9% more of their disposable income than two-adult households, mainly on the same bills that are set to go up. Some single parents that don’t co-parent are forced to work reduced hours while forking out more than £2,000 on nursery fees and rent each month. Then to factor in the full electric heating, which some say the additional pressures don’t help, especially in this crisis. Single parents will face the struggle of the crisis. According to Victoria Benson, Chief Executive of Gingerbread, the charity for single-parent families, said: “Being a single parent means you only have one household income, and it has to cover lots of fixed costs that couples can share, such as housing and heating, both of which take up big chunks of anyone's budget.
“Once childcare and other essentials are paid for, there's not much money left, which means single-parent families often experience poverty or live with problem debt.”
This puts so little to put aside for savings it’s inevitable to go into debt. the uncertainty in impacting mental health, which has become a serious problem.
In the longer term, there needs to be a concerted effort to close the gender pay gap to ensure that women’s hours of work are not underpaid compared to their male peers. And an investment in social infrastructure like childcare is crucial to ensure that single mothers, in particular, can earn a living and support their children to the best start to life as possible.