'My wife and I both work full time but we can’t afford kids - we're barely keeping above water'
A Leeds man told his wife they ‘can’t afford kids’ while the cost of living crisis rages on, despite the fact they both work full-time.
Seacroft man Richard Kirk, 41, works at a sandwich shop and his wife works as a waitress. Richard says they’re ‘barely keeping above water’ merely providing for themselves and their chihuahua Casper. The couple have had to take out overdrafts just to get by.
Currently four in ten energy bill payers are struggling to afford payments, according to the Office for National Statistics. Its survey also revealed that 44 per cent of adults are cutting back on energy consumption because of the rising cost of living.
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Richard said: “We can’t afford kids at the moment. Of course, I want kids but I do everything to support me and the wife. We’ve had the discussion, I told the wife it’s not suitable to bring up a child at the moment. Then I said with the way it is at the moment, we can’t afford to have one at the moment.
“We’re just barely keeping above water buying our clothes and things that we need. Sometimes I get frustrated but we say to each other ‘it’s a necessity and we just have to deal with it’. We have to make peace with it. It’s not going to change, they’re always going to keep putting prices up.”
The Trussell Trust, which provides foodbanks across the country, has said 36,000 emergency food parcels were distributed in Leeds last year alone, with more than a third of these for children.
'It's getting ridiculous'
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by seven per cent in the year to January 2024, according to the Consumer Prices Index. This is lower than peak prices in March last year, which saw the inflation rise to 19.2 per cent – the highest annual rate seen for 45 years.
Richard said: “We can’t even afford to go into the supermarket and do a monthly shop. We just shop day by day. We’ll just get like a ready meal or something. A monthly shop is now £150 or £200 which is way too much. You’re paying £2 for a loaf of bread! It’s just getting ridiculous now.
“Every day, it feels like an envelope is dropping on your door from somebody that’s wanting money for something. ‘This is going up, your electric is going up, gas prices are going up,’ it’s just getting out of hand now.”
The 41-year-old is concerned for the elderly. He doubts his late mum and dad would “survive” in current times with the cost of living at this level. He adds the rising food costs have been effecting the prices at his sandwich shop, a major chain, and he sympathises with his customers when they ask him about it. “It’s frustrating for everybody,” he said.
He’s had to dispense with luxuries like Sky Television, he goes out a lot less with his wife, which is now only a couple times a month - a contrast to regular date nights each week before the cost of living crisis.
“We’ve cut back on everything,” said Richard. Fortunately, chihuahua Casper’s welfare is secured through a payment plan.
Richard and his wife have had to take drastic measures. Richard said: “I’m working full time and my wife’s working full time but it’s gotten so bad, we’ve both had to get overdrafts in our banks to help out with the credit-crunch. It’s really taxing.”
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