A Single Mother Last Night Told How She Has Been Hospitalised With Malnutrition Twice After Eating Just One Meal A Day To Ensure She Could Still Afford To Feed Her Two Children
A single mother last night told how she has been hospitalised with malnutrition twice after eating just one meal a day to ensure she could still afford to feed her two children.
Kelly Thomson, 43, has just £40-a-week to feed her family and said inflation means she fears this winter will leave her needing to resort to begging.
Although Ms Thomson's universal credit covers her £1,300 monthly rent and a few other costs, she says she has just £160 a month left for all other bills.
The mother-of-two, from Slough, Berkshire, said rising food prices have made it near impossible for her to feed herself as well as her own children.
It comes as new Office for National Statistics data released today revealed that the UK inflation rate is the highest it's been since 1982, at 10.1 per cent.
Ms Thomson has lost two stone in weight because she only eats once a day, and was forced to take her daughter's birthday gift to Cash Converters to get money for food.
Twice she has ended up in hospital suffering with malnutrition, she said — even needing blood transfusions to replenish her depleted iron levels because she cannot afford fresh food.
Kelly Thomson, 43, lives on £40 per week to feed herself and her two children. Pictured with her daughter, 11
It comes as new data reveals that the UK inflation rate the worst in the G7, The Telegraph reported.
Both the US and Germany are seeing rates of 8.5 per cent, while Japan sits at 2.4 per cent.
New figures revealed that everyday food items have soared in price by as much as 34 per cent, laying bare the true cost of as it reached another 40-year-high today.
Ms Thomson, who has a son, 14, and daughter, 11, said: 'I hate waking up every morning and thinking "oh my God, not again".
'The cost of living is crazy now and I don't know what I'm going to do.
We have nothing. I honestly feel I'm going to have to resort to begging.
'It's worse now than ever before. I feel sick over seeing the new inflation rate.
The mother-of-two, from Slough, Berkshire, said rising food prices have made it near impossible for her to feed herself as well as her son, 14, and daughter, 11
'Everything is more expensive every time I go in the shop and I can't bear to look at the gas meter.
'I do think about stealing but I can't bear the thought of what would happen to my kids if I got arrested.'
New stats reveal the headline rate reached 10.1 per cent in July - well above analysts' predictions of 9.8 per cent.
It was up from 9.4 per cent the previous month, driven largely by fuel and food prices.
It is the highest inflation has been since February 1982, when the measure was estimated to have been 10.4 per cent, and comes amid a cost-of-living crisis that is seeing prices spiral on everything from package holidays to fish and chips and even toothbrushes.
A slew of supermarket items have also far outpaced the inflation rate, with the cost of low fat milk rising by 34 per cent on average over the past 12 months, according to the latest data from the (ONS).
A slew of supermarket items have also far outpaced the inflation rate, with the cost of low fat milk rising by 34 per cent on average over the past 12 months, according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS)
'Everything is more expensive every time I go in the shop and I can't bear to look at the gas meter,' Ms Thomson said.
Pictured, rising costs reported by the ONS
Other dairy products also topped the list, with whole milk surging by 28.1 per cent, butter by 27.1 per cent and cheese by 17 per cent over the same period.
Other essentials such as olive oil, jam and honey and https://healthtopical.com/for-stretch-marks-oil/ eggs rose by 23.6 per cent, 21.2 per cent and 14.6 per cent respectively.
The ONS figures also showed sharp rises in poultry (16.1 per cent), fish (13.4 per cent) and crisps (13.4 per cent).
ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said: 'A wide range of price rises drove inflation up again this month.
Food prices rose notably, particularly bakery products, dairy, meat and vegetables, which was also reflected in higher takeaway prices.
'Price rises in other staple items, such as pet food, toilet rolls, toothbrushes and deodorants also pushed up inflation in July.
The headline CPI rate reached 10.1 per cent in July - well above analysts' predictions of 9.8 per cent.
It was up from 9.4 per cent the previous month
'The cost of both raw materials and goods leaving factories continued to rise, driven by the price of metals and food respectively.'
It comes as experts predict the current inflation rate could be smashed later in the year, when the expects the level to top 13 per cent.
The latest increase - together with relatively robust jobs market figures yesterday - will reinforce speculation that the Bank will hike interest rates again next month.
That could help rein in rampant prices, but would also heap more pain on Britons, as wages lag far behind.
Ms Thomson said that she cries every day over the situation.
'It's getting worse and I feel so trapped, like I'm suffocating and there's nothing I can do,' she said.
'It feels like everything is spiralling out of control — we need someone to step in and help the people that need it.'
RELATED ARTICLES
Share this article
Share
'In June, my children watched me collapse,' Ms Thomson said.
'I've never been so scared in my life and the impact on their mental health must be awful'
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-1af25b80-1e6e-11ed-add8-e37c8a968b8e" website 43, is hospitalised with MALNUTRITION in cost-of-living crisis