Office for National Statistics

Cost-of-living crisis still hammering households as recession predicted

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cost-living-crisis-still-hammering-households-recession-predicted

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

THE cost-of-living crisis is still hammering households in every corner of the country, the TUC warned today, as inflation figures remained unchanged and Britain is believed to have slipped into recession.

The union body called for ministers to extend cost-of-living payments which are set to end by March after figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation remained at 4 per cent in January.

Food prices fell for the first time by 0.4 per cent since September 2021, with the cost of bread and cereals, cream crackers and chocolate biscuits falling, the ONS said.

The costs are still 7 per cent higher than a year ago.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted that the economy has “turned the corner” following the data.

But the ONS is due to publish gross domestic product (GDP) figures for December on Thursday and is predicted by experts to reveal that Britain’s economy contracted for the second quarter in a row in the final three months of 2023.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cost-living-crisis-still-hammering-households-recession-predicted

Continue ReadingCost-of-living crisis still hammering households as recession predicted

Brexit, climate change and ‘greedflation’: The principal reasons behind the spiralling cost of food

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Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/05/brexit-climate-change-and-greedflation-the-principal-reasons-behind-the-spiralling-cost-of-food/

In March 2023, the inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose to 19.2 percent, according to Office for National Statistics. This is the fastest rate food inflation has risen in 45 years. ONS figures also show that more than half (51 percent) of adults in the UK are worried about the price of food.

Analysis of official figures by the Lib Dems, shows that customers face higher prices in supermarkets, despite wholesale costs having fallen.  For example, a loaf of wholemeal bread has risen by 26 percent, even though the cost of breadmaking wheat has fallen by 14 percent. Similarly, the price of tomatoes has soared by 13 percent despite farmers having dropped prices by 7 percent.

Separate figures from Which? show that meat, yoghurt and vegetables doubled in price in the year to March.

As inflation continues to rip through family budgets, and consumers are forced to pay sky-high food prices, the government has come under fresh pressure to crackdown on supermarkets. This week, farmers, supermarket bosses, food manufacturers and consumer group representatives gathered at 10 Downing Street to discuss Britain’s food security. But what [are] the reasons behind the UK’s crippling food inflation?

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/05/brexit-climate-change-and-greedflation-the-principal-reasons-behind-the-spiralling-cost-of-food/

Continue ReadingBrexit, climate change and ‘greedflation’: The principal reasons behind the spiralling cost of food

Children in care 10 times more likely to end up in prison by age 24, figures suggest

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HMP Wormwood Scrubs, London. Image: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0
File:Main gate to the HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in spring 2013

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/children-in-care-10-times-more-likely-to-end-up-in-prison-by-age-24-figures-suggest

CHILDREN in care are 10 times more likely to end up in prison by the time they reach 24 than those who grew up outside the system, official figures suggest.

The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published today found that looked-after children were more at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system during early adulthood than their peers.

Looking at children in care who were born in the academic year ending 1994, the ONS found that more than half had received a criminal conviction by the time they turned 24.

This compares to 13 per cent of children who were not in care.

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Prison reform campaigners said the figures show more needs to be done to address the criminalisation of children in care.

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Continue ReadingChildren in care 10 times more likely to end up in prison by age 24, figures suggest