Jess and Jon Daly, a couple in their mid-thirties living in Norwich with their two-year-old daughter Robin, are facing mounting financial pressures as the cost of living crisis enters its second year. With food prices rising at their fastest rate in 45 years—up 18% in the year to February—and UK inflation unexpectedly climbing to 10.4%, the family is struggling to absorb rising costs across the board.
“Money is a constant worry and I feel like it’s infecting everything,” says Jess, a library administrator whose job at the University of East Anglia is at risk due to a £30m deficit. The couple have switched to own-brand products, cut back on meat and fish, and now think twice before each purchase. Despite these changes, their grocery spending has doubled since 2019.
Childcare costs have become a major burden, with nursery fees for Robin’s two days a week increasing for the third time in just over a year. The government’s budget promise of free childcare for under-threes will not help them, as Robin is already two. Both Dalys feel the budget offered little relief: Jon notes he does not have a bulging pension pot to benefit from tax breaks, and their bills remain higher than ever.
With Jess’s job at risk and fresh worries about rising energy and food costs, the family faces an uncertain future. “I don’t know whether or not that will affect me,” Jess says of potential redundancies, adding that the constant financial strain is taking a toll on their daily lives.
