THE cost of a child’s packed lunch has risen by 70 per cent in the past 18 months, heaping further pressure on cash-strapped parents.
The price of everyday items including bread, ham, cheese, tomatoes, biscuit, apples, yoghurt and crisps has soared in recent months.
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Tomatoes are 146 per cent more expensive and cheese is 132 per cent higher and yoghurt has almost doubled in price, according to research by Starling Bank for The Sun.
The popular ingredients bought for one week’s worth of school lunch boxes will now cost a family a total of £11.87 now to buy, £4.88 per cent higher than the £6.99 the same items cost in April 2021.
Food prices have risen on the back of higher energy, animal feed, fertiliser prices as well as big jumps in the cost of labour, transport and packaging.
As a result of the inflationary pressures the majority, 57% of hard pressed parents are switching from their favourite brands to cheaper alternatives while almost as many are skipping holidays and hair appointments.
The first item to be sacrificed as household budgets come under pressure will be takeaways and eating out, according to Starling’s research. This is closely followed by clothes shopping, takeaway coffees and trips to the cinema.
Helen Bierton, Chief Banking Officer at Starling, comments: “ We’ve looked at how the cost of living crisis is hurting young families – it’s a challenging time and budgets are stretched.
Food price inflation hit a record 12.4 per cent last month, according to Kantar figures meaning the average annual grocery bill is £571 more expensive than a year ago.
Shoppers are being hit with rising prices on everyday costs ahead of a big jump in energy bills this winter, despite the government support already announced.
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Child Poverty Action Group has called for the government to introduce universal free school meals after warning that many children will arrive at school hungry as their families struggle with bills.
In England all infant school children receive free meals up to year two but beyond that only parents who earn less than £7,400 a year are eligible.
