Usdaw’s cost of living survey of over 6,500 workers lays bare the scale of the difficulties many working people are experiencing. Key findings are:

• Two-thirds have relied on borrowing to pay their everyday bills, with around half of them struggling with repayments.
• 82% of working parents feel worse off now than they did last year, more than a quarter of all parents have missed meals in the last year to pay bills.
• Two-thirds are significantly cutting down on heating in order to cope. Shockingly, a quarter will no longer use the heating at all.

The full report is available at: www.usdaw.org.uk/COLsurvey
 
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Today’s Queen’s Speech was a crucial opportunity for the Government to demonstrate they understand the depth of the cost of living crisis now impacting far too many working people. So we are shocked that they have decided to stand back and watch workers struggle to make ends meet in what they call a continuing review.
 
“Wages are now lower in real terms than in 2008 and insecure work remains prevalent. The energy price cap rise has pushed many household budgets to the limit. As food prices rise, household budgets are being stretched, many workers are now being driven into debt to pay everyday bills. Worryingly, food bank usage has more than doubled in the past year. These are the very real experiences of mainly supermarket workers struggling to afford the basic food they need.
 
“The Government has so far not delivered anywhere near enough to help workers who are facing poverty as a result of their cost of living crisis. We need them to agree a windfall tax on oil and gas producers, a reduction in VAT and a review of Universal Credit. If they don’t take the action we are calling for, the Government will have simply failed to understand the scale of the challenge faced by millions of working households across the country.”
 
Usdaw is calling for:

• A windfall tax on the huge profits of North Sea oil and gas producers, to protect the most vulnerable.
• A reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 20% to 17.5%.
• An urgent and fundamental overhaul of Universal Credit, which includes significant investment, to ensure it provides a social security benefit that more consistently supports workers in low-paid employment. 

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades.
 
For further information please contact Usdaw’s Media Officer, David Williams on: 0161 249 2469, 07798 696 603 or by e-mail to [email protected]
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion