It’s official – inflation hit 9% in April. We know what that means: the cost of everything we buy has gone through the roof. However, inflation isn’t the same on everything we buy. So, across the course of an average day, how much more does it cost just to live? Hint: it’s a lot more expensive for the poorest people than it is for the richest.
Inflation: the worst for 40 years
Sky News reported that:
Inflation has hit its highest level in 40 years…
The rate shot up to 9% last month – its highest level since comparable readings in 1982.
It also noted that almost three-quarters of the rise came from the 54% increase in energy prices. However, this isn’t the whole story – as a day in the life of many of us shows.
Don’t even try to live a life
You’d best start putting less milk in your morning tea, because that’s gone up by 12.2%. If you want some toast to go with that, spread the jam thinly – it now costs 15.6% more. But you might want to skip both, given that the transport costs of doing the school run, getting to work, or going to sign on at the Department for Work and Pensions have rocketed by 13.5%. Let’s hope your car (if you can afford one) doesn’t run on diesel – because the price of that has gone up by 36%.
Lunch could be a no-no, unless you can afford the 22.7% increase in margarine to spread on the bread. Fortunately, that’s only gone up by 4.9% – so you can just eat it dry. Now, don’t forget to check on your baby – but only if you can afford to reproduce in the first place. Baby-related products have gone up by 15.9%. When the older kids get back from school, check their shoes for tears and tape them up if necessary; there’s been an 11% increase in the cost of children’s footwear.
It doesn’t really matter what (if anything) you choose to have for dinner – overall food prices have gone up by 10.6%. But if you want to make stuff from scratch, even that is costing a lot more. Because while the price of flour has risen by 9.3%, ready meals have only gone up by 7.8%. And if you can’t afford the gas/electric to cook or heat either of those things? Hey – at least the ready meal can technically be eaten cold.
Inflation = class war
If you try to navigate all this, you’d best not be poor. Because while headline inflation is 9%, for the poorest households it’s actually 10.2%. Take comfort from the fact that the inflation rate for the richest households is less than yours and the headline figure – sitting at 8.7%. Luckily for them, the cost of their servants has only gone up by 1.4%. They can jet off on a package holiday that’s only gone up by 3.1%, knowing that the kids will be well looked-after in their absence.
The point being, the government knows that inflation hits poor people the hardest. Yet it still chooses to do nothing about it – making the current chaos we face an intentional class war, not a cost of living crisis.
But don’t worry – if all this is utterly depressing, the cost of chocolate has actually fallen by 0.4%, and fags have only gone up by 7.5%. So, you can gorge and smoke yourself to an early, heart attack-induced grave safe in the knowledge that the cost of a funeral has only gone up by 3.5%. Small mercies, hey?
Featured image via The Canary
