Cost of living crisis: Ladywood MP says families face choice of ‘feeding their children or heating home’

Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood has said “Conservative choices” have exposed the country to the cost of living crisis.

Many households in major cities have been left financially vulnerable by the coronavirus pandemic, with high-cost debts and little in the way of savings, and families in three of Birmingham’s 10 constituencies are set to be among the worst affected in the country.

Research from debt collection company Lowell and the US-based Urban Institute think-tank shows that families in Hodge Hill, Ladywood, and Erdington are in the top five constituencies in the UK set to be hardest hit by the crisis.

‘Families face stark choices’

Ms Mahmood told BirminghamWorld that families in Ladywood are telling her that “they are facing the very stark choice between feeding their children or heating their home.”

She said: “This research confirms the reality facing many Birmingham Ladywood constituents already. Families are telling me they are facing the very stark choice between feeding their children or heating their home.

“The Chancellor’s recent statement is a complete disaster for living standards and has left the British people with the highest tax burden in 70 years.

“Before the Ukraine crisis, inflation was already spiralling, and it is Conservative choices that have left us exposed to a cost of living crisis.

“Under the Conservatives, families in Birmingham Ladywood and across the country are £2,620 worse off. We’re facing astronomical price rises: in the weekly shop, at the pumps, and rising energy bills. The Government has also chosen to put up National Insurance Contributions at exactly the wrong time.

“Labour’s fully-funded plan starts with a one-off windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas profits, and would save households £200 on their bills, with an extra targeted support of £400 to those who need it most. We would also stop the hike in National Insurance.”

What does the research show?

The researchers’ Financial Vulnerability Index scores an area from 1 to 100, with higher numbers signifying greater financial vulnerability.

It combines analysis of Lowell’s 9.5 million customer accounts with official statistics from the UK Government and Office for National Statistics.

It is based on six components that capture a household’s ability to manage daily finances and resist economic shocks: carrying debt in default, using alternative financial products such as payday loans, claiming work-related benefits, lacking emergency savings, holding a high-cost loan and relying heavily on credit.

In the UK, Walton, Liverpool, has the highest financial vulnerability score (67.8).

This is followed by Middlesbrough (66.9), with Birmingham, Hodge Hill, in third, with a financial vulnerable score of 65.1.

And Birmingham Erdington (64.1), and Ladywood (64) make up the top five areas in the UK with the highest financial vulnerability score in the UK.

Birmingham, Perry Parr, is 12th on the list with a financial vulnerability score of 62.

Every Birmingham constituency also has a worse financial vulnerability score than the UK average of 45.1.

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