A KEY wellbeing charity is demanding new action from government, as study found nearly a third of Scots were eating less healthily and are cutting down on exercise and socialising as a result of the cost of living crisis.
Research for the Dunfermline-based Carnegie UK charity based on a YouGov poll has revealed some 31% felt that the crisis had had a negative impact on how healthy their diet was.
Nearly one in three (30%) said it had hit their ability to participate in hobbies and activities such as playing an instrument or football.
Over half (56%) of Scots said it had a negative impact on the ability to take part in other leisure activities such as eating out and going to the cinema.
Some 38% said it hit their ability to spend time with friends, while nearly one in four (23%) said it had a negative effect on the ability to spend time doing things in the community.
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The charity is concerned over the effect the cost of living squeeze is having on public health effect and warned that the long-term impact of the trends may be more expensive for the public purse than short-term help.
It comes as a fund which makes emergency grants to Scots facing financial emergencies has overspent its allocation for 2022-23.
Councils were allocated £35.5 million for the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2022-23, with an estimated £4.4 million which was unspent last year also carried over into this year’s total.
But the latest analysis shows that more than that total was spent in the first nine months of the financial year alone.
More than half a million households have been helped by the fund, which was set up in April 2013.
By the end of December 2022, 501,045 individual households had been given grants totalling £381.6 million.
Carnegie's UK-wide report, the Long Shadow of the Cost of Living Emergency, says current pressures mean people are finding it hard to protect their health.
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Long-term life prospects are also at risk, they said, with over one in five (18%) of Scots adults saying the cost of living emergency had a negative impact on their performance at work or education.
Sarah Davidson (below), chief executive of Carnegie UK, said: “Rising living costs are taking their toll on quality of life in the UK. Our health is at risk due to poorer diets and less exercise. We’re seeing people struggling to perform at work and education. And as people are forced to stay at home, we’re going to see increased experience of loneliness.
“While this is an urgent problem now for individuals and families, we’re also storing up trouble for the future. For example, an increase in long-term ill health could have a devastating impact on the wider economy and the NHS. And fewer people socialising will hit local economies as well as damaging our collective mental health."
The research also found that 58% of Scots surveyed said the cost of living crisis had had a negative impact on the ability to cope financially, with 60% cutting back on the use ofvtheir central heating nearly one in four (24%) using their car less.
And 61% said the government was doing too little to help people through the rise in the cost of living. And 53% said the Scottish Goernment were not doing enough.
“That’s why it is not only right, but smart for government to take further action to help people cope with the rising cost of living," said Ms Davidson.
"Policymakers should spend now to save later and protect our wellbeing. That means new action to bring down energy bills. It means new efforts to boost wages for low-income households. It means ensuring that the benefits system helps people to make ends meet.”
Carnegie, The Trussell Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) are campaigning to embed in our social security system the principle that, at a minimum, Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials. JRF’s research revealed that 90% of low-income households on Universal Credit are currently going without essentials.
Katie Schmuecker, principal policy advisor at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “This research shows, when millions of people are going without essentials like food, heating or clothing, nutritious food and a social life are some of the first sacrifices low-income families have to make putting their health and happiness at risk.
“It’s why so many organisations from those helping single parents of young children to others helping people with mental health problems or long-term disabilities want the governments of the UK to back the Essentials Guarantee. This means ensuring that the basic rate of Universal Credit at least covers the cost of life’s essentials, with support never being pulled below that level.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government recognises the pressure on household budgets which is why both last year and this, we have allocated almost £3 billion to support policies which tackle poverty and protect people as far as possible during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
“Tackling poverty and protecting people from harm is one of three critical missions for this government. As outlined in the First Minister’s policy prospectus, it is only with the full economic and fiscal powers of an independent nation that Scottish ministers can use all levers other governments have to tackle inequalities.”
A UK Government spokesman said:“We are providing record levels of direct financial support to the most vulnerable – up to £1,200 last year and up to a further £1,350 in 2023/24 through Cost of Living Payments, with over 686,000 families in Scotland starting to receive £301 this week.
“We have also uprated benefits by 10.1 per cent, introduced an unprecedented increase to the National Living Wage and provided record levels of direct financial support for those in need.
“In addition to the significant welfare powers they already have, we are also giving the Scottish Government an extra £82 million to help people in Scotland with essential costs.”
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