One in five Londoners financially struggling says new polling by City Hall

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has warned of the severe pressures facing Londoners this winter as he urges government to step forward and do more to tackle the growing cost-of-living crisis.

A recent YouGov poll, commissioned by City Hall, has shown that one in five Londoners say they are ‘financially struggling’ (21%), with more than one in four (29%) going without essentials and more than two-thirds (67%) buying less food and essentials.

The figures also reveal that 45% of Londoners with a total household income of lower than £20,000 and 50% of disabled Londoners are already using less water, energy or fuel to help them manage living costs.

Research from The Felix Project has also shown that one in four working parents in London have skipped meals or not bought food for themselves to ensure their children can eat, while the Trussell Trust has forecast that more than 600,000 people in the UK will depend on food bank support from December until February next year.

City Hall says Sadiq Khan’s £3.5m emergency free holiday meals programme has benefitted hundreds of thousands of low-income families since it was launched in April.

This October half term around half a million free meals are being provided to children from low-income families across the capital.

Speaking at a visit to CEF Lyncx, a Brixton organisation that provides activities and free holiday meals to children and their families, the mayor spoke of his concern of the pressure families in London will face this winter.

“Charities are seeing huge demand on their services with families already worrying about how to both eat and heat their homes,” said mayor Khan.

“We know from work done by Felix that one in four working parents have skipped meals to ensure their kids can eat.

“We’ve got a cost of living crisis that’s getting worse and not better.

“We need ministers to use their powers to ensure children aren’t going hungry and help those in need to get through the winter.”

Rachel Ledwith, head of community engagement at The Felix Project, said: “We know so many families are set to struggle with the high costs of living this winter. We recently found one in ten have less than £20 a week, after paying all their bills, to buy food. That’s less than £3 a day to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is why it is so vital The Felix Project, working with The Mayor’s Fund for London and the mayor is doing it all it can to help.

“These meals not only reduce the pressures on family food budgets but will ensure children are getting a hot healthy meal during their school break.”

A government spokesperson said: “There are 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty than in 2010, including 400,000 fewer children, but we know some families are struggling, which is why we are providing support worth an average of £3,300 per household, including raising benefits by over 10 per cent this year, and are increasing the National Living Wage again.

“To help people out of poverty through work, we are also investing £3.5 billion to help thousands into jobs, including £2 billion of targeted support for people with disabilities and health conditions.”