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‘I feel like a failure’ says Yorkshire mum worried she will never be able to afford to take kids on holiday
A South Yorkshire mum has confessed she is worried that she’ll never be able to take her kids on holiday as the cost of living spirals.
New research reported this week has shown that the cost of basic foods has doubled in most major supermarkets over the past year. The cost of groceries is set to overtake energy bills as the biggest squeeze on household budgets.
Even as new cost of living payments are announced to ease the pressure, there are real fears that many will continue to struggle in the months to come. As businesses continue to fall in the face of cost of living pressures, Yorkshire Live went to ask how people were coping with rising prices.
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We visited two of Sheffield city centre’s Job Centres where people head for support in times of need. The stories we were told were those of uncertainty and worry about how people could continue under such financial pressure.
Speaking to Yorkshire Live, one mum told us that she felt guilty that she couldn’t take her children on holiday. Lauren, 25, from Burngreave said she felt like a failure because she can’t give her children the same things that she had growing up.
Lauren said: “It’s been difficult for a few years to be honest, I’ve not been on holiday or anything like that since Covid. It might seem a bit daft but it’s what I had growing up, you could afford to go away.
“I’m not really sure how me and the kids will be able to now. If things carry on the way they are, there are other things that we need to spend our money on.
“Everything costs more now, it isn’t just the bills it is everything you buy in the shops and that means there’s nothing left over for us. I know it isn’t the most important thing but it makes me feel guilty.
“I was lucky and I got to go away with grandparents and bits when I was younger, I’m worried my kids won’t have that as they grow up. I just have to be careful though, there are more important things.”
Imani, 32, from Darnall felt similarly frustrated. She said: “I think everything has got so expensive now. I don’t know how it can carry on that way.
“It is not just people on benefits struggling, hard working people are struggling because of it. You work hard but your money doesn’t go as far as it did anymore.
“Each month it’s hard. There is so much less each time that I can’t see how it will carry on this way.”
David, 39, said he had been struggling to find a job for some time due to his health and was really starting to feel the pinch. He said: “When everything is as expensive as it is, it is just really disheartening.
“Everything you see on the news and from politicians is basically just saying if you work harder you’ll get what you deserve. That’s not the case for a lot of people.
“I want to work but there are a lot of places that wont take me on because of my health. I shouldn’t be punished because of that, I do what I can and apply but that is all I can do.
“It says a lot when they’re having to give people these cost of living payments because of how tight things have got. If it wasn’t for them you’d have people starving.
“I can’t really see how anyone can think this is a good way for things to be, with people struggling to get by even if they are working. You’ve got people on social media saying just buy the cheapest stuff in the supermarkets, they don’t get it at all.”
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