I am not really sure if there is support for my caring responsibilities. I guess that answers the question to an extent as if there is support available, then I am clearly not aware of it. I have three children, one is still at home, another at university and another independent and living alone and with a good job. They all have their difficulties even when they are not at home. We are a neurodivergent family and support has always been hard to find. At the moment with a cultural and political swing to the right, support for these kinds of issues as well as mental health seems to be getting harder and even developing a stronger stigma around it due to media and propaganda that it is over diagnosed. At a recent university interview for my youngest we were investigating what the support would be for them and we came up against many barriers to even find the right people to speak to and ask. It was a very bleak scenario. A male member of staff was actually very aggressive towards me, in a public place and made other students, my child, and their friend feel very anxious and uncomfortable, just because I said the provision for support at that university looked bleak! Support generally is waning I think. I feel like organisations/institutions don't even have to keep up the illusion of support any more.

I have been on Universal Credit due to a break from work after mental health difficulties escalated. I have recently been feeling better and considering what I would like to do next. Lots of my work has been self employed in the past and it strikes me that this is also a great way to manage day to day changes and challenges in mood, energy and health generally. The only issue is that the system that is designed to support people with Universal Credit if they are Self Employed is so admin heavy and also leaves you not really able to budget as you wouldn't ever know what income you will have. I also had the decision changed (after nearly a year) from full capability for work to lower capability for work. This was a part of what started me thinking about returning to some self employment. However the income £400 allowance does not factor in that as soon as you earn any money even low amounts I would lose my council tax benefit which means I would have to pay £200 per month council tax. So my LCW income allowance is halved immediately. I don't understand the logic of this at all. If the narrative is about supporting people back into work, now I finally feel ready to explore this, it feels like the system actually keeps you in.

From what I've noticed, I think the cost of living crisis is not improving due to the increased cost of daily essentials, such as transportation and groceries, while the source of income remains static.

Not been on here for a while due to my emotional and mental health relapsing. Had time off work, which resulted in only statutory sickness pay, this again impacted my health as it's a constant worry juggling money. Trying to prioritise what to pay. My son is a teenager and eats out house and home, with it been half term and only half way through I had to ration what I eat so I know he has enough. I work full time but how has it got to this? …

I don't think the cost of living has finished at all because everything seems to be going up cost of foods going up, council tax is going up. Just had notification it is going up 10%, which is a lot of money where we live in Lincolnshire, food costs have just gone up, even higher and we are fortunate where I work part-time that wages have gone up slightly higher, but you don't seem to feel the effect of it, I stopped paying for my son's Child Care last year thinking that that would help with the cost but unfortunately, everything still getting on. It's just a constant juggle to pay for one thing so you feel like you're you've just got to compensate other things.

I have used food banks in the past that I'm considering using them again. I've had a real benefits assessment, but it's just a constant stress and struggle, just never seems to be ending. And it's just a constant struggle.

Good day

but I don't believe it's coming to the end 😐 everyday things are becoming expensive if u go to Lidl with £50 you will come out of the shop with 4 things that's so sad

The cost of living crisis is not over yet. As a low income family, I am still facing financial burden to run a family with a limited budget as everything is expensive and hard to sustain. The government should cut taxes and increase the amount of benefits for the low income families to live decently with minimum standard.

Hi Brian.

As shocking as it is, there is no end in sight to this crisis. This cost of living crisis is now "the new norm".

Living costs are now so ridiculously high. Especially in deprived areas of the country. It's a wonder how people manage to get by at all. The prices of everything from grocery shopping to household insurance, are seeing costs go through the roof.

You can't go out of your house without spending upwards of £10 to get anywhere and back or do anything. From public transport to petrol costs, everything is becoming horrifically expensive. I met a friend for a drink on Wednesday. I say "drink" because had we actually ordered a small bite to eat for two people, it would have cost well over double figures. It's good for my mental health to get away from "the four walls" , for a few hours. However, even staying at home with a friend to visit, involves the additional cost of heating rooms for longer than normal or alternatively cracking up from not getting outside once in a while.

Staying sane comes at a higher cost these days. It's not as though I can simply go 'walking' in the wet and cold of a winter's day either. I need a place to sit, warm and dry. So I make the most of things while out, then won't go out again for at least another month. It's not like a, weekly event to enjoy anymore. More so, another challenge to overcome whenever confronted by scandalous costs.

The Big question today is big indeed!!!!

I went shopping 2 days ago to the assumed cheapest store and what I met was shocking.

Prices of toilet soap and other daily needs and food has skyrocketed.

Although I’m not constant with rents but I’m sure not cheaper than what it used to be.

My bills have not reduced as well.

In all, I don’t believe the living cost has gone down.

Absolutely not. It is not possible to eat nutritious fresh food for single people on universal credit, it is no surprise that the number of people claiming disability benefits has gone up it is impossible to live on the money given to single job seekers. I am a single parent so I receive more money I only work 10 hours a week when I am not working I have the time to go to a place were I can get very cheap food (a community centre selling surplus food from supermarkets) I can’t get everything I need from there and when I do use supermarkets I'm constantly amazed at how little real food is available and how expensive it is. If I worked full time and came off benefits (I would only ever be in the market for minimum wage jobs) then I would not have the time to do the things that enable me to live on a low income but I would have about the same amount of money but no time find second hand clothes in charity shops and source cheap food or the time to prepare decent food from scratch. I would end up eating cheap nasty processed foods that can be prepared quickly. This would be detrimental to our health and well-being, I wouldn’t be able to improve the chances of my child it what seems to me an increasingly dog eat dog society.

The cost-of-living crisis remains an existential threat to poor people. Equalities economists such as Gary Stevenson maintain that the gap between rich and poor is only getting larger, and that taxation policies worldwide are increasingly squeezing the middle classes. Housing costs more and more as a proportion of average income; food and utilities costs remain high; the economy is not growing, so government revenues are worsening. All these are conspiring to make poor people poorer. The only solution is massive redistribution of wealth in society.

I personally believe those on the poor end of society are nowhere near the end of the cost of living crisis - cost of food, electric, gas, water and accommodation increases constantly. The impact on low income families, elderly and those unemployed is swept under the rug, reality is unless it impacts us directly we choose not to see the struggles and suffering of humanity, basic equality for all, the needs of any individual is food water shelter warmth every individual should have these as basics for life we walk past hunger homeless and people in desperate need and majority of people do nothing, the cost of living is worse for many