A new report into the cost of living pressures facing their members has been published by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) and it makes for grim reading according to their General Secretary, Sarah Woolley.

The BFAWU survey of their members found how, in spite of being in work, six out of ten food workers and members of the BFAWU say that their wages are insufficient for them to meet their basic needs like food and energy, and that they are fearful of running out of food due to a lack of money.

Nearly half said they are feeling food-insecure, and three out of ten reported they don’t have enough food to feed themselves and their families. Only 13.5% said they are not eating less, with 83% saying they choose to eat cheaper alternatives, which invariably mean they eat lower quality less nutritious food.

A growing number also reported that they are skipping meals, while relying on friends and family and/or food banks to eat. It is not just on food where they are struggling. Nearly nine out of ten say they have reduced their heating to save money, with almost 40% saying they were either cold all or most of the time in their own homes. Over half said they were dreading this winter because they feared they wouldn’t be able to afford to heat their homes.

With Christmas on its way, 45% of BFAWU members said they would not be able to eat what they would like this Christmas and 55% said they would also not be able to provide everything for their family that they would like. 

In this UK-wide survey, over 90% of BFAWU members said that they felt the government was not doing enough to help families struggling with cost of living pressures.

General Secretary of the BFAWU, Sarah Woolley, said of the report and its findings: “This is the third of our food insecurity and cost of living reports. It is the most disappointing one yet and makes for grim reading. Rather than the challenges facing our members improving under the new Labour government, this report shows the pressures are either impacting the same number of our members or they are getting worse, with nine out of ten of our members feeling that the government is not doing enough to help them.   

“The people that are reporting these pressures, our members, let us remember, are in employment. They are working hard day in and day out to provide the food that our country and the wider economy need to function and yet they are paid so little they cannot afford the basic essentials they need in their lives, such as food and being able to heat their homes. It makes me angry that so many are dreading the winter and won’t be able to eat what they want at Christmas.  

“This is quite simply a disgrace and an indictment of our economy and our political system that has enabled and embedded this type of imbalanced and unfair economy, which has normalised in-work poverty, food insecurity and fuel poverty.

“I would appeal to the UK government, as well as the devolved administrations and councils, to do more to end this ongoing cost of living crisis facing our members and other workers and people across the country. As a country we have to do better and that means doing much more to help and support those struggling. They, frankly, are the ones who keep our country fed and functioning. It is not bond markets who grow, produce and serve our food: it is working class people – and the sooner we start to look after them the better for the country.”