By Tsvetelina Stancheva
Risin food, energy and transport prices are adding an increasing burden to overly stretched Londoners’ lives, with many people in risk of ending up “on the street”, a business owner said today.
“I came to London about 20 years ago, and comparing the life back then to what we call it ‘living’ now is just sad,” said said Piotr Cugowski, 43, who owns his own corner shop near Marble Arch.
“More and more people are becoming homeless or are struggling to adjust to the rising prices. I just hope that the families who struggle already find a solution and don’t end up on the street.”
When affordable becomes unaffordable
Tube fares in Zone 1 will increase by 10p on 1st March, going from £2.40 to £2.50. Tube fares to longer destinations will increase between 20p and 30p, according to the government website. Bus and trams single fares will reach £1.65, and the daily cap will increase by 30p, reaching the price of £4.95.
“I think that these ‘affordable’ fares are far from what people can actually afford and it’s getting very ridiculous. The transport in London is very expensive already as it is, I cannot imagine paying more,” said Linda Paine, a 32-year-old caretaker.
The main income of TfL (about 70%) comes directly from fares. With Covid swooping in and more and more people working from home, those numbers drastically decreased, leaving a massive hole in TfL’s revenue.
The Mayor blames the big increase on the government’s refusal to fund TfL properly.
“Since TfL’s finances were decimated by the pandemic, the government has set strict conditions as part of the emergency funding deals to keep essential transport services running in London,” Khan told the Guardian.
“We have been forced into this position by the government and the way it continues to refuse to properly fund TfL.”
But this excuse is not fixing the situation or making it better for Londoners.
“It’s not fair that the transportation is getting increased again. My family already struggles to live a normal life with the money we are earning. We have to make major changes with our food intake and make some cuts so we can manage,” said Ivan Valdez, 24, a food delivery driver.
Travelcards
The fare rises are expected to surpass an additional 151 million for TfL by the end of this year (2022).
How Covid made inflation worse
It’s not just the price of transportation that is increasing. Energy prices are rising rapidly, with “electricity and gas bills for a typical household will go up by £693 a year in April, a 54% increase,” according to the BBC.
In addition, grocery store prices rose by 3.8% only over the first four weeks of January compared to the same period of time last year, according to consultants Kantar. The biggest reason sales are going down and prices up is because same time last year people were panic-buying, which means shops were thriving.
Since Covid cases started decreasing, people have started going out and socialising more, and food sales decreased by 3.8%. This caused the price increase, adding around £180 to the annual grocery bill of the average household, Kantar said.
Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, told the Guardian: “Prices are rising on many fronts, and the weekly shop is no exception. We are now likely to see shoppers striving to keep costs down by searching for cheaper products and promotions. Supermarkets can offer the best value stand to win the biggest slice of spend”.
Londoners were marked as the people who have changed habits the most post-Covid. The sales of take-home food and drink fell by 11%. Veganuary and Dry January after Christmas majorly affected the store sales. Alcohol-free beer sales jumped by 5% and the healthy store branded items sales reached and increase of 8%.
Anya Vladimirovna, 35, a single mother of two said: “Covid is here to stay. Even if the virus might be completely gone, the consequences of it, as we can see, are almost unmanageable. Covid has shaken us pretty bad and all this price increasing everywhere makes me wonder if I will be able to keep taking care of my family as I wish I could.”
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