With the UK economy gone to the dogs, people in the country are eating pet food to survive

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — People in the United Kingdom have it going hard for them thanks to the crashing economy. The growing inflation has forced many to revisit their living habits. However, some are forced to go to extremes. According to a recent BBC report, residents of Cardiff are eating pet food in an attempt to live on a tight budget.

Cardiff is the capital of Wales and the largest city in the country. Besides eating pet food, its residents have resorted to heating their meals on candles. 

The national broadcaster of the United Kingdom quoted a community worker to highlight the incident. 

“I’m still shocked by the fact that we have people who are eating pet food, people who are trying to heat their food on a candle or a radiator. These are shocking kind of stories that are the truth, we know from trusted people that have ended up sharing this in tears with us – it shouldn’t happen,”  

Mark Steed, who runs a community food project in Trowbridge, Cardiff’s Stowbridge area, told the BBC.

People in Wales (as in many parts of the UK) do not make enough to sustain themselves. This is despite them putting in extra hours. 

According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 34% of children in Wales live in poverty. Among the four countries of the UK, Wales has the highest number of children in relative income poverty.

In the UK, people fall in the relative poverty category if they are living in a household with income below 60% of the median household income in that year. 

As a result of the crisis, many citizens are abandoning their pets or looking for alternative housing for them. With hardly enough to maintain themselves, looking after pets has become a luxury.

Recommended: Brits believe Brexit was a mistake; UK economy agrees

UK food price inflation hits new record high. UK economy in shambles

Food price inflation in the United Kingdom reached a new record high of 12.4% in November, up from 11.6% in the previous month. Prices of everyday use such as eggs, dairy products, and coffee have gone over the roof.

That is the biggest inflation rate in the food category since records began in 2005. Overall shop price inflation rose to 7.4% in November from 6.6% in October, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Data from the Office for National Statistics indicate food price inflation in the year to October hit 16.2%, up from 14.5% in September.

As CoinChapter earlier reported, several UK Citizens have turned to food banks to beat the increasing living costs. 

As per a May 2022 survey by the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN), 93% of organizations representing food banks in the UK reported an increase in the need for their services since the start of 2022.

A recent report by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) suggests stagnated wages and growing inflation in the UK will result in an income loss of 6.2% over the next two years. This averages to £1,750 (about $2,150), the tightest contraction among all G7 countries.

Is Brexit behind people in the UK eating pet food?

According to researchers at the London School of Economics, one can trace the financial voes of the UK to Brexit. 

The country’s exit from the European Union (EU) has added almost £6 billion (over $7.3 billion) to consumers’ food bills, increasing them by an average of £210 ($260) in the two years to the end of 2021. 

The over 6% increase in the prices of products has hurt the poorest in the country.

“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border. Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto consumers,”  

 Bristol University professor and study co-author Richard Davies said in a note.

Bank of England (BOE) chief economist Huw Pill also shared similar sentiments. According to him, Brexit will cost the UK 3% in permanently lost national output within 15 years. 

While addressing a panel organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Pill argued that leaving the EU caused job shortages and strengthened pricing pressure among firms. This, in turn, has weakened UK’s economy. 

According to reports, a third of single parents in the UK are even skipping meals to be able to sustain themselves. As one UK-based family researcher told CoinChapter, “People are chosing between eating and heating”, thanks to inflation. 

With the Financial crisis in the UK deepening and no end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in sight, one should expect more worrying reports from the country.