Almost a third of people are having to rely on buy now, pay later schemes, short-term loans and credit cards to cover the cost of Christmas, new polling has shown.
Rising prices on gifts and the soaring cost of food has pushed people into relying on finance to get through the festive period, the survey shows.
More than half of people will be cutting back, with 57 per cent saying the cost of living crisis will impact their spending.
According to a poll of more than 1,000 adults, conducted between the 9 and 12 of December by Survation and shared exclusively with The i Paper, 29 per cent of people said they will be forced to pay for their Christmas on credit or other loan schemes.
The survey also showed that an overall majority of people said the cost of living crisis will force them to rein in their spending on Christmas this year, with 57 per cent saying the prices of goods will impact their spending. Just 16 per cent of respondents said it would have no impact at all.
Stubborn inflation
Inflation has remained stubbornly persistent in the UK despite a recent fall last month. Official figures showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the main measure of inflation, was 3.2 per cent in the 12 months to November, down from 3.6 per cent on the month before but still well above the Bank of England’s (BoE) target of 2 per cent.
But the headline rate often obscures higher prices elsewhere, with food and non-alcoholic drinks rising by 4.2 per cent and restaurants and hotels up 3.5 per cent.It has meant 44 per cent of people saying they will spend less on gifts, food and drink this year compared to last.
Matthew McGregor, chief executive at campaign group 38 Degrees, which commissioned the poll, said that the cost of living crisis has “lost all meaning” for some in Westminster, despite it being “front and centre” in the minds of ordinary people.
“This festive period, more people than not across the country will be hit by continued rising costs and forced to adjust their lives as a result. Since before the election, voters have been desperate to see change in their lives that results in more money in their pockets,” McGregor said.
“Moves like scrapping the two-child benefit limit will make a huge difference to many families, but this poll shows the Government must ensure they stay laser focused on doing more to help ordinary people get by. In 2026, the Government must go further and faster so that by next Christmas, all of us are able to ‘live a little’ at this special time of year.”
Sir Keir Starmer has made bearing down on the cost of living the number one priority for his Government, using a speech in December last year to make household disposable income a key marker of success for his administration.
Household income down
The Government will point to raising the minimum wage, cutting levies on energy bills, freezing rail fares and prescription charges, as well as ending the two-child benefit cap, as measures it has taken to help with the cost of living.
It will also point to the six interest rate cuts by the BoE since it came to power, claiming this is a result of fiscal certainty introduced by Labour.
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But Office for National Statistics figures released on Monday showed that household disposable income had actually shrunk 0.8 per cent in the three months up to September compared to the previous quarter.
A separate poll by Savanta showed that rising prices for household goods have forced 51 per cent of Brits to buy fewer gifts this year.
The representative poll of 2,138 adults, conducted online between December 12 and 15, also found that over a third of the public, 37 per cent, are set to host fewer guests or even no guests on Christmas Day.
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