Women’s Experiences of the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Northern Ireland
Economic crises often impact disproportionately on women and the Cost-of-Living Crisis is no different. Increases in the cost of living hit poorest households hardest and women are generally more likely to live in poverty across their lifetimes.
The Women’s Regional Consortium in Northern Ireland wanted to show, through our research work, how women’s lives were being impacted by the Crisis. In June 2023, in partnership with Ulster University, we published a major research report carried out with 250 local women which showed the impacts of the Cost-of-Living Crisis across a range of areas of women’s lives.
The research showed that many low-income women are at a crisis point, often forced to go hungry and cold and get into debt, in order to be able to provide for their children and families as a result of rising prices for the most basic items. They told us about the struggles they had affording basic food items including baby formula and healthy food particularly fresh fruit and vegetables.
Women are often described as the ‘shock absorbers’ of poverty in their homes, going without food, heat and clothing, to protect their children and other family members. We heard numerous examples of this with women sharing their experiences of skipping meals, living in cold homes and having to use foodbanks.
We also heard from women about the significant toll the Crisis was having on their health, particularly their mental health. Living in constant fear of being unable to afford the essentials, provide for themselves and their families, worrying about debt, feeling guilty about being unable to afford any extras for their children and being unable to socialise even in small ways were resulting in significant distress, anxiety and negative health impacts.
Most of the women reported feeling the effects of the Cost-of-Living Crisis on their most essential bills particularly food and energy but it was clear that the Crisis was having a grave impact on women, their children, families and communities. Some of the key findings from the research were:
91% of the women said they had difficulty paying their bills as a result of cost of living increases.
90% said the price increases which had the biggest impact on their household budget were energy bills and 89% said food bills.
56% of the women were in debt and of these 82% said they had to borrow as a result of cost of living increases.
90% felt that the Cost-of-Living Crisis had impacted on their physical or mental health or both.
Of those who had children, 78% felt that cost of living increases had negatively impacted on their children.
92% reported that cost of living increases had negatively impacted on their ability to take part in social activities.
78% of the women said that they had felt cold or hungry or both as a result of cost of living increases.
41% needed to use a foodbank/other charitable support due to increases in the cost of living.
The research was full of personal evidence from women about the impact of the Crisis on their lives and families and some of the women’s words are included below. We continue to use their powerful words and experiences to lobby policy makers and government to take action to address financial hardship and poverty as we continue to live in an environment of rising prices for the most essential household items.
“My wee one is on formula milk and it’s £16 a tin now. I was going without food to make sure she had it. I was eating dry cereal just so she could get the formula she needed. The stress I felt getting down to the bottom of her milk tin and thinking will I have enough to get her milk.”
“The extras are all gone now, going out is a luxury, we hardly had it in the first place. Even the special occasion treats are gone now like for birthdays, etc. There’s no spare income for it now.”
“We don’t put the heating on now we just use wee plug in heaters. I’ve been trying to top up the gas but it just keeps running out all the time so I’ve given up putting it on and I’m just using the wee electric heaters but that’s going to put my electric up.”
“I’m having to borrow for the way I normally live. I used to have a certain amount of money to cover my ordinary bills but that’s not there. So I’ll have another week until I get paid so I’ll use my credit card to get whatever I need. It’s all essential stuff, it’s just living.”
“Heat, electricity and food the things you need to survive are literally like luxuries now. You’re having to make decisions if my child wants to eat and be warm what am I going to have to do without.”
“There are times I’ve went three or four days with very little to eat. Maybe grab an apple just so I have something in my stomach and I’m not going to bed with hunger pains and growling in my stomach.”
[Quotes from research participants]
You can read the full research report ‘Women’s Experiences of the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Northern Ireland’ and a shorter summary of the research here:
