Cost of living crisis laid bare as almost half of Britons ‘have under £25 left at end of week’

Almost half of Britons have less than £25 in spare cash at the end of the week, as the scale of the ongoing cost of living crisis is revealed in a new survey.

The research shows that the majority of UK adults are being forced to make difficult choices, with almost two-thirds (63 per cent) having to cut back on essentials like food and heating.

The results highlight how the cost of living crisis “the cost of living crisis hasn’t gone away” but has “got worse”, said the newly launched Cost of Living Action (COLA) group.

It is calling on the government to take steps to “put an end to the cost of living crisis and make sure it never happens again”.

Labour MP Yuan Yang, co-convenor of the Living Standards Coalition, said: “The Cost of Living Action campaign has identified a critical challenge for those of us in Westminster to grapple with: that we need a holistic approach in order to create growth while tackling the cost of living crisis. As their campaign has correctly identified, this approach requires increasing incomes, reducing costs, and fairer taxation.”

The poll, undertaken by Survation on behalf of COLA and in collaboration with The Independent, found that 40 per cent of Britons are left with just £100 or less per month after essentials, while 13 per cent have nothing at all or are forced into debt.

The survey also found:

Tackling the cost of living crisis is one of the government’s key priorities this year, Sir Keir Starmer has said, telling families in January: “This Labour government is on your side, doing everything we can to ease the cost of living, and make life better. In 2026, the choices we make will mean more people begin to feel that positive change.”

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But the government continues to struggle with declining popularity in the polls, as political drama and the high cost of living impact public opinion.

The extent of the problem means that the issue is now the nation’s top concern, COLA’s research shows. Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of all people cite the cost of living as one of their three most important issues, far above health (38 per cent), immigration and asylum (37 per cent), and the economy (33 per cent).

Conor O’Shea, campaign coordinator of COLA, said: “Millions of people are struggling with sky-high costs, and left in debt or with next to nothing left after paying bills each month. It’s no wonder people are feeling so worried and angry.

“The government must deliver transformational change that truly responds to the scale of the crisis. That means making the essentials affordable for everyone, ensuring everyone has access to the income they need to live well, and rebalancing the tax system with more and better taxes on wealth.”

The group has called on the government to cut energy bills by cracking down on excess profits, and to ensure wages and benefits rise in line with inflation – and are always enough to afford the essentials.

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It also urges policymakers to introduce higher taxes on wealthy individuals, and bring down housing costs with large-scale social housebuilding and private sector rent controls.

More than half of those surveyed agreed with all of these proposals.

Hannah Peaker, deputy chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, said: “At a time when we have been reminded of the lengths some politicians will go to protect the wealthy, this polling shows just how exposed most people are to the cost of living crisis. People are still struggling with sky-high energy, food and housing costs, while wages continue to lag behind.”

Earlier this week, the influential Resolution Foundation think tank said Britain is facing a historic drop in living standards, as today’s generation faces the slowest income growth in decades. In a wide-ranging new report, it found that In-work poverty has become a growing issue, as 55 per cent of households living in poverty now contain at least one working person.

A government spokesperson said: “Tackling the cost of living is our number one priority. That’s why we have acted to cut the cost of living. £150 off energy bills, a freeze to rail fares for the first time in 30 years, a freeze to prescription charges for the second year running, an increase to the national minimum and living wage and we lifted the two child benefit cap which will lift 450,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament.

“Living standards are now higher than they were in the previous parliament and real wages are up more in the first year of this Government than the first decade under the previous government.”