THE DISPATCH
COST OF LIVING
The Jack Monroe effect is reaching supermarkets. The campaigner’s influence has changed ONS policy and is challenging pricing structures. Many owe Jack thanks. The cost of living crisis is escalating
Supermarkets Asda and Sainsbury’s want to talk to food campaigner Jack Monroe about their prices amid soaring inflation. It’s a timely intervention. With the government busy trying to save itself, Monroe has taken matters into her own hands with the cost of living crisis. She has shone a light on just how much it costs to be poor by posting on Twitter about the rising costs of budget items in stores as a real measure of inflation. Her activism has already led to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) pledging to change how they measure inflation.
It comes as new figures show two-thirds of British adults have already been impacted by the cost of living crisis in 2022. The ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey for January revealed nine in 10 adults reporting increased costs have seen their grocery shopping rise in price, while eight in 10 are facing higher energy bills. The data lays bare the extent of the crisis, which has been driven by rocketing inflation and increases in the wholesale price of gas.
Though grocery shopping and energy costs were cited as the main drivers, some respondents reported an increase
