Half of households slash grocery spend
Print1 August 2013
The Central Statistics Office has released its quarterly national household survey. The survey shows that 82% of households reduced their spending on at least one area of expenditure as a result of the economic downturn in the last 12 months. Over 40% of households are having difficulties keeping up with their bills and debts.
51% of households say they have reduced their grocery bill as a result of the economic downturn. A quarter have been forced to cut back on at least five categories of expenditure such as clothes, holidays, car usage, health insurance and pension contributions. Some 14% of households with a mortgage were unable to meet their home repayments on time at least once in the previous 12 months. One in five renting households had failed to pay their rent on time at least once.
The survey, carried out between July and September 2012, measured the effects on households of the economic downturn. It found two fifths of individuals were concerned about their level of personal debt. One in five consumers was more concerned than they had been a year earlier, with only 5% indicating they were less worried.
In households where the person questioned was unemployed, nearly thre quarters were experiencing difficulties managing their bills and debt. Two thirds of households had cut back on going out to pubs and restaurants etc. and a similar number had reduced spending on clothes and shoes. Some 51% had cut back on grocery spending while six in 10 households had cut back on holidays abroad and close to a quarter had cut back on health insurance.
One in 10 households is getting financial help from family or friends to cope while others restructured loans or taken on longer hours or a second job to cope. Over a quarter of consumers were dipping into savings to pay routine bills, the survey revealed.
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