We are suffering from all the increases in recent years and its now impacting the cost of everything.
When fuel & energy went sky high a few years ago that would have impacted the cost of everything - everything is made in a factory, or delivered by vehicle etc. every cost going up at every level slowly slowly and then all of a sudden quickly.
we have had negitive economic impacts from:
Brexit
all that Covid spending/increased debt
then the shut canal with the stuck tanker
Ukrainian war
Now the Irainian/ME conflict
Increased taxes/NHS etc for businesses
etc
All of these events lead to increase in costs for consumers, & thats before we get to increase in taxes. This in turn leads to higher family spending on basics, everything goes up, and this sucks a huge amount of what was previously "disposable income" out of every single family it evaporates! poof its gone. Country wide this depression of disposable income must be having a massive impact.
Successive UK Govt have fucked us, left us vulnerable to energy shortages, left us carrying more debt that ever before, swathes of the country aren't working, so many workers aren't being paid enough to live and get topped up with UC, and we are not doing economically as well as we used to.
Tesco, (for example) makes many many millions in profit each year yet so many of its workforce will need UC to survive. This isn't right. Tesco & other porfitable companies etc should be paying its workers a proper living wage so tax payers don't need to subsidise their workforce.
I just had my 24/25 tax expenditure statement from HMRC - you probably did too. take a look at it. I paid 30% of my income in tax (single parent but I earnt £90k in that year - end up with £60k). its eye opening - 44% of the tax I paid went on welfare/pensions/debt interest. That is 44% of taxed income just keeping the country treading water.
Plus NHS, tax, VAT, fuel duty, etc. Its a huge amount we pay in tax to what increasingly seem to be incompetent govts.
Plus I have had to go private for medical treatments - geting my DD diagnosed with dyslexia and adhd so she can access support she needs at school cost over £2k just for the diagnosis. If I wasn't able to pay for private she would be out of school & probably aged out before she could get the diagnosis & support she needs. We have been advised she is probably AuADHD but I can't afford about £2k to get tested right now.
How are families that can't pay private getting on? How long are their children taking to get diagnosed? PLUS if we want DD to have medication we also have to do that privately (cost several £100pcm) as the NHS won't accommodate her private diagnosis or supply her with medication. All the NHS will do, if we beg & beg, is stick her in a very long line for support that will likely come when her GCSE's are done & dusted. Its a shitshow.
I'm having dreadful problems with HRT etc but my GP can't offer much help at all so I will probably have to pay privately for some proper advice if I want to stay sane-ish. I was referred to an NHS specialist and have to wait over a year for my appointment.
On my £60k in hand I still pay nearly a third of that in mortgage for our very modest house. We do OK but we live frugally. I don't often buy coffees out - certainly not like I used to. I'm not happy but I'm not going to complain about my income - we do OK.
For those saying their car is old etc I do think that there is an idea that we should all have everything new all the time. This used to be called "keeping up with the Jonses'" but its normal to budget your income, its normal to drive an older car, its normal to watch how you spend and not fritter money away on coffees/expensive lunches etc. There seems to be some thinking that this is hardship or punishment but its really not.