Working families across the UK have told the Mirror that the Chancellor's Autumn Budget measures, including a £100 energy payment for council tax bands A to D, a rise in the minimum wage, and a freeze on fuel duty, will barely touch the reality of soaring food and heating bills this winter.
Struggling to Make Ends Meet
Iram Malik, 44, an NHS frontline health advisor and mother of three children aged 12, 10 and four, in Hounslow, relies on strict budgeting and working opposite shifts with her husband to keep their household afloat without paying any childcare fees. For her, rising energy and food bills remain the primary pressure point.
"Food is the most expensive thing, out of anything basically, hands down," she told the Mirror. She keeps costs manageable by turning bargain-hunting into an activity for her children, or avoiding eating out. She added: "I'm not going to lie, sometimes I do try and say to them, 'Let's just eat snacks [when we're out] so we can have a main meal at home'. And I think that's not so bad, because when we did it, we turned out okay."
The mum channels her spare time into volunteering with grassroots community project C-Change West London, which she credits with offering invaluable local support - and says more people could benefit from.
Pragmatic about the future, she is already encouraging her 12-year-old son towards vocational training: "I want him to do an apprenticeship. I don't want him to get into debt - I want him to turn what he enjoys into a solid career."
Rising Demand at Food Banks
At Hounslow Charity Foodbox, a local foodbank, senior operations manager Alexander Robertson said demand was increasing rapidly. In the last quarter, they supported over 2,100 individuals - a new high.
Surrounded by shelves half-empty after a busy half-term, he told the Mirror: "Historically, we have supported many people experiencing ongoing difficulties associated with their mental and, or physical health. But we are increasingly seeing people accessing a food bank for the first time because of a sudden change in circumstances."
"Some of the people we support have said that they prioritise others over themselves, particularly their children or their pets. Quite often, we'll hear people say, 'I need food for my children, I need food for my pet,' reflecting the priority they place on the wellbeing of their family and pets, even when they are experiencing financial hardship themselves."
Earlier this week, the Government announced it would be removing tariffs from 100 food items, which could save households up to £21 per year - or 40p a week.
"A lot of people may welcome the prospect of making a saving over the course of a year, but if you're living from one day to the next, that annual saving doesn't quite correlate with the immediate pressures they face," Alexander said. "A saving of £40 or £45 over a year does not necessarily translate into a meaningful improvement in someone's day-to-day circumstances. When money is already stretched, relatively small savings may not provide sufficient immediate relief to cover essential expenses."
He added: "When people are having to manage from one meal to the next, talking about an annual saving can feel quite remote from the immediate financial pressures they are experiencing."
Energy Bills a Non-Negotiable Cost
In Merthyr Tydfil, interpretation and translation assistant Gareth Clement, 37, lives with his wife and three children on a combined income under £55,000 in a rented house. He is acutely aware of the rising cost of utilities as winter sets in.
"The energy bill is probably the biggest one because it's a non-negotiable with gas and electric," Gareth told the Mirror. "It's getting colder, we're using more gas and I'm always conscious in the back of my mind how long the heating is on for, and how much the bill is increasing."
He feels that they'll see little benefit from tariff cuts at the checkout, despite cutting back on vaping and swapping to supermarket brands. He said: "We get our food shop delivered weekly - it's anywhere between £70 and £80 per week but we've noticed the number of products we're getting for that amount of money is getting less and less but the prices are increasing, it just doesn't look like value for money."
The dad-of-three added: "I think more help with fuel bills would help. I think there should be a social tariff that gives you unlimited usage if you're on benefits - I think that needs to be looked at because the increasing energy charges are pushing lower off families into a corner where they're choosing whether to heat their homes or put another jumper on. We're living in the UK and it shouldn't be happening."
Bereaved Parents Left Without Support
For Philippa Smith, 42, an academic and widowed mother of two in Berwick-upon-Tweed, who is currently on sick leave after being diagnosed with breast cancer, the £100 energy rebate offers no respite. Her annual income is £60,000, with sick pay and a widow's pension after her Royal Navy officer husband Lieutenant Commander Richard Smith died in 2023, aged 38.
"It doesn't help me because my council tax is E or F. I think the whole council tax system needs reforming," she said. "I think they need to do a lot more. Getting rid of standing charges on gas or freezing fuel duty isn't a huge amount."
Facing three-hour round trips for medical appointments alongside £300 monthly energy bills, she adds: "My earning potential has drastically dropped since my husband died because I'm limited with being able to do work outside school time. With my cancer diagnosis I have all my medical appointments too. Once my kids are a bit older and I have kicked cancer, I'll be able to earn again."
Philippa had hoped to see more action taken to improve the lives of bereaved parents. Bereavement support payments can be claimed by a spouse or partner following the death of a loved one and people can receive an initial payment of £3,500, followed by 18 monthly payments of £350, before they end.
Philippa said: "It hasn't been updated in a really long time. Widows and widowers would receive ongoing payments until their children were 18 from their partners' contributions to national insurance. Now it disappears after 18 months. I know a lot of people who spend a large sum of the money on funeral costs. I would ask the chancellor to uprate bereavement support payment in line with inflation like the other benefits and extend it until children turn 18."
Jodie Reid, co-CEO of family charity Home-Start UK, said today's Budget will make a difference to many families. Home-Start, which has supported families across the country for over 50 years and helped nearly 60,000 households last year, works on the front line with parents navigating the cost of living crisis, postnatal mental health, and cuts to local services.
Last week Children's Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, called for a national Children's Emergency Fund to address inequalities in children's services, after a new report showed the stark differences in support available to children across the country. In response, Reid warned that early intervention is now facing a "postcode lottery", with rising living costs leaving 1 in 5 parents of under-fives feeling cut off from meaningful adult contact outside the home.
The charity boss had hoped to see more details released on a possible Children's Emergency Fund, alongside improving family's finances, but warned more steps are needed. "Many parents Home-Start works with struggle to get the basics on the table, bringing stress and a sense of isolation which makes it incredibly hard do their best for their children. The Chancellor's announcements today will make a difference to many families, but to give every child a fair chance of success as they grow, far bigger steps are needed. We want to see more action to tackle hardship in the first year of a baby's life, where costs are high and parental pay is poor and more to strengthen services such as ours, which provide trusted early support for families at their most vulnerable moments."
