'We have no help' say people living in one of Wales' biggest towns

The cost of living has been one of the most prominent issues for the upcoming general election. So we asked the people of Bridgend if they think that the national minimum wage is enough.

Carol Bevan, 75, who is retired and used to work in a hospital, said: “No, not really. I don't think it is because everything is so expensive today, isn't it? You've got a family and I think everything should be lifted up to that family and money should be what people can afford to live with. People shouldn't have to struggle like today. Not in this day and age.”

Another man told us: "The parties that are going to get in power... have no help for the region of Wales."

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Tristan Leelawrie, who is a cafe owner in Bridgend, said, “I think it should be raised a little bit because the cost of things going up in terms of me owning my own business, the price of stock and things is certainly going higher and higher day on day and I think that's kind of reflecting in supermarkets things as well. If you've got families to feed and kids to feed and things, it's probably just enough to get you by. But I think by putting it up, it certainly will help families around the county borough.”

Mair Hulse, 56, a retired teacher, said: “I think people struggle on a low wage, even above that, people struggle. You have poverty with both parents working because of the pressures of paying mortgages, increased fuel costs and increased food costs. So I think the standard, the level of wages set at is probably far too low for people to be able to cope.”

However, not everyone thought that the minimum wage should increase. Martin Bevan, who is retired, said: “I personally think no, because the more you put it up, the more prices go up. So I don't see the point of raising minimum wages when everything else goes up with it.”

We also asked people if they thought either Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak could survive on the minimum wage… and almost everyone agreed they couldn’t.

Mair Hulse said: “I don't think they have any concept of it. I know Rishi Sunak is a multi-millionaire and comes from a very wealthy family. I think they would struggle to cope on a week's wages in a day or even a month's wages in a day. It's quite shocking to me that their meals and their bars are subsidised when people who are out working in the NHS working very hard have to struggle to pay for everything.

Tristan Leelawrie said: “I don't think so to be fair. I think if they were in the kind of shoes that people in Bridgend were, they would have a very different perception of what it's like to live on that kind of national minimum wage, and they’d probably have a reason to see why it should be raised then.” Watch the video above in full

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