Report

Stepping up

This report from UK think tank Bright Blue looks at public attitudes to address the cost of living crisis. 

The cost of living crisis is hitting the finances of British families hard: the Consumer Financial Confidence Index has dropped to the lowest score in a decade and inflation reached 5.5% in January. But we are only at the beginning of this storm: the energy price cap is increasing by 54% in April 2022, and will increase by a further 52% in October 2022 if energy prices remain at current levels, while inflation is expected to peak at above 8% this year. The 3.1% uprating in benefits, based on inflation rates in distant September 2021, looks to be disastrously dated, leading to significant reductions in the real income of low-income households. Bright Blue’s Social security after Covid-19 project aims to develop a policy programme that strengthens the UK’s safety net in the long-term and wins the support of the public and policymakers from across the political spectrum. But given the scale and pressures of the current challenge, and the need for the Government to act quickly and decisively to protect the poorest in the year ahead, we are publishing this short piece detailing extracts of our original polling evidence, giving new insight into what the public thinks about the cost of living crisis.