Cost of living

2022 - 12 - 27

Post cover — Image courtesy of "BBC News"

Cost of Living: Asylum seekers driven to destitution - charity (BBC News)

The Welsh Refugee Council (WRC) has called for asylum seekers to be allowed to work in order to increase their income. It said it was having to support more ...

"Remember the HGV drivers crisis? She added a lot of asylum seekers would "love to work". "Asylum seekers aren't allowed to work in the UK, so that is a very limited pool of money that they've got to survive off, and they can't really expand that pool of money," she said. Ms Protheroe-Soltani said asylum seekers were in a "no man's land between having this really small amount of money, and not being able to work". Fighting in the region led to the destruction of homes, school and hospitals. Harriet Protheroe-Soltani, from the WRC, said the allowance provided by the UK government should be supplemented, by allowing asylum seekers to work as they wait to discover the outcome of their claim.

Cost of living: The hidden poverty in England's least deprived area (BBC News)

Like Anne-Marie, Sam also uses the village food bank, volunteers at the toy library and is struggling to make ends meet on benefits. Sam says she has had to ...

"I know that two children were there from (this area) - two worlds colliding - and how lovely that the friends could play together. "This is why resources such as the local food bank are still vitally needed in places like this. "You've got the two cars and you've got the prime minister," she says. The Prestwood food bank was set up after Ms Cook started meal packs for pupils in 2016. "You've got a lot of wealth and then you've got a lot of need." The BBC approached No 10 for comment. "My children go to a local school and they were invited to a birthday party in a very big garden," she says. "But if it happens again in the same month, suddenly you lack the funds to sort that out and that pushes you into debt and immediately you've crossed that threshold." That's great when you see them living the life that you don't have." "If a family have the knowledge and the money," she says, "they can go and access a private paediatrician or obtain a private diagnosis and push it through." "And keeping the heating on in this cold weather - so, electric, gas, all of that - the cost is a lot higher than it was. "But there are places like where I live that is very deprived and I do feel that there is a major gap.

'No-one is going to pay £7 for a brownie' (BBC News)

Fran Harrison, co-owner of Little Blonde Bakes, said the price of sugar and butter had doubled, along with paying more for eggs and packaging, while electricity ...

A mother and daughter who run a bakery in Bury have said they are struggling with the rising costs of raw ingredients but are trying to keep costs down because "no-one is going to pay £7 for a brownie". She said people might see cakes as a luxury they cannot afford as they are also faced with the rising cost of living. Cost of living: 'No-one is going to pay £7 for a brownie'

Cost of Living: Family's struggle as coeliac diagnosis doubles food ... (BBC News)

A mum from North Devon says her three year old's gluten intolerance has seen their food bills rise.

It may only be 20p here and there but it all adds up together," she said. "Everything's going up. She said she had been contacted by people who are finding it difficult to stick to their diet as they are struggling to afford items. Becca, who has a family of four, said her food bill had gone up "considerably" since Olivia's coeliac diagnosis. She said she tries to shop for reduced items and food the family can put in the freezer to save money. Becca, from Barnstaple, North Devon, said her family were now "struggling" to afford food as prices increase due to the cost of living crisis.

Cost of living: Deliveroo and Uber couriers face uphill struggle (BBC News)

Gig economy workers say they're having to make changes as orders drop and their wages stagnate.

A spokesperson told BBC Newsbeat it was proud to offer flexible work to 90,000 riders in the UK and that it had recently signed an agreement with the GMB Union to guarantee riders the national living wage. "And for us to take a day off, that means the next day we have to then go even harder than what we would normally. "Working in the snow, working in bad weather conditions is a risk," he says. [held a demonstration calling for better pay and safety](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-56664668) and Deliveroo responded to say the vast majority were happy with the firm. The TUC and other unions want to see greater protections for workers like Shaf and Atlanta who they say miss out on basic working rights. Since the cost-of-living crisis hit, "we're working a lot more for a lot less," he says. He says he puts pressure on himself to work a lot more - often meaning he has to weigh up his safety and wellbeing against his need for income. "I delivered in a car for three years and now I've swapped to an e-bike," the 22-year-old says. "And being on a bike now, obviously not having the extra expenses, has really made a difference." "I was working as a courier most of my 20s, and now I haven't had a holiday in seven years." "You can make the money, I think you've just got to put in the hours," says Atlanta. It's meant luxuries like takeaways have become a rarity for many, and you might be more likely to catch the bus than take a taxi.

Theft at unmanned shops on rise alongside surge in cost-of-living (asianews.network)

The variety of goods sold in unmanned shops has expanded from food — such as dumplings, packaged ramen noodles and meat — to daily necessities such as diapers ...

Gyoza-no-Yukimatsu, a chain of frozen dumpling shops, operates unmanned shops in 430 locations across the nation. A security camera was installed in the shop as a crime prevention measure. He was a 23-year-old unemployed resident of Nagareyama in the prefecture. The shop sells items like frozen ramen noodles and puddings. Cases of theft at the unmanned shop go back some time. 23, a man wearing a down coat entered the shop, searched for goods in a freezer and put them into a bag one by one.