Andy Horvat is halfway through a 13-hour working day as he scrapes together as much as he can to pay his soaring bills. The barber from Armenia began his shift on a busy Merthyr Tydfil shopping street at 9am. He’ll finish at 6pm, and then head out in his car to deliver takeaways.
“My rent went up at the same time as everything else, so I had no choice,” said Andy, who sends as much money back to his family in Armenia as he can. He endures these mammoth shifts daily. “I’m not sure it’s sustainable, I’m thinking I might need to move out of Merthyr to find somewhere cheaper.”
Merthyr Tydfil was last year the second most affordable area in the whole of Wales, behind Blaenau Gwent, according to multiple property websites including Zoopla and Rightmove. The painful truth for Andy is that he couldn’t be living more stringently than he is now, and yet it isn’t enough.
READ MORE: Couple facing financial 'ruin' after builder leaves house in 'horrific' state
“My rent went up by £200 a month,” he continued. “I used to put £10 a week on the electric but now it’s £40 and I haven’t even turned my heating on yet this year. The gas prices are too much, I was spending £25 a week just on cooking but now it’s doubled. I am worried about the future. My wages aren’t rising that much. Business owners can’t compete with levels of inflation, which I understand. It means I have to work these hours. Like most people, I’m trying to stop spending money enjoying myself. People here are surviving, especially this winter. It has put a stop to a lot of enjoyment.”
Andy is not alone. Among the many people who shared their cost of living struggles with me in the proud valleys town this week the majority said they were now struggling to afford a basic weekly food shop and heat their homes. Their plight comes days after a new Ofgem energy cap came into effect on October 1, seeing average household bills rise from £1,971 to £2,500 per year. To help tackle the crisis, millions of households are also set to receive a £400 energy discount. Families will start getting £400 off their energy bills this month in six instalments. But many said it won’t touch the sides.
When 71-year-old Christine Wilkes wakes up in the morning she dons her bathrobe to keep warm, but she can’t bear not turning the heating on for her grandson Blake.
“We’re just about paying the bills, we’ve got nothing left - I’ve got nothing left,” she said, sat on a bench beside her daughter-in-law Kate Williams and son Richard Williams. “I put 40 quid on the meter the other day and within two days it’s gone. My energy bill has gone up, my food has gone up, water rates, council tax, everything. The money hasn’t gone up very much though. I’m worried about my family. Let me give you an example: the multipack toilet roll I bought was £10 last year, now it’s £22. A couple of months ago it was £19. I like to cook with Stork margarine which was £1.80 a couple of months ago but is now £3. That’s right through my shop. It’s hard to manage.”
Many of the problems that face the family of four are as a result of the fallout from Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the government. Although the UK imports comparatively little energy, food and raw materials from Ukraine, domestic prices for most products are set according to global conditions, and so prices continue to ramp up as the conflict goes on.
“My partner is working now but they’ve taken our money right down,” Kate explained. “He’s a customer assistant and has been there for three months. We’re paying £91 a week rent and then council tax and other bills on top.”
Richard said: “I’m on Universal Credit but now I’m at work my money isn’t rising, while everything else is going up. A job came up, and the thing is, when you’re on Universal Credit you are made to apply for anything and everything. I joined the shop I’m working in as a supervisor, but I said if I have the option to be a retail assistant, put me on that, as I might have less of a wage but I’ll be on a little more money overall because I’ll have less taken off my Universal Credit. That’s a reflection of what being on Universal Credit is like. It’s difficult. You try your best and get a job but the money is still nowhere near. These energy companies don’t seem to be doing enough to help people. We get no help. I like Martin Lewis on TV, at least he gives good advice on the best deals, other than him we feel we don’t get much help.”
“They couldn’t run a p***-up in a brewery,” Christine interjected. “This has been coming for years. Look at our hospitals around here.”
Kate explained: “I went to hospital with Blake poorly on Saturday, and there was one doctor for all the children there. After a few hours we decided to leave and he wasn’t seen. It’s dreadful.”
“We can’t win at the moment,” Christine added. “All we can do is keep going and trying our best.”
Wayne Withers sits outside his daughter’s coffee shop with a cheery smile and an energy befitting someone facing far fewer challenges than him. The 54-year-old has spent most of his life working in the catering business to provide for his family. But now he is about to have his leg amputated due to an infection he has been unable to shake off, and he’ll soon be on Universal Credit too.
“They said in March it needs to come off,” the father-of-five said, looking down at his leg. “I’m trying to look at benefits, which I’ve never been on before so I don’t really understand how it works. I’m not getting any help. They don’t want to know until it comes off. In the meantime I’m just trying to get by basically. The leg should have come off ten years ago but I didn’t want it to affect work. I’m just about managing now. My wife has always stayed at home and look after our family but she’s had to go to work now to top up the money. I don’t think that £400 is going to help at all really. It goes far beyond that. For my gas and electricity I am paying hundreds a month.
“Now it’s happening to me, I wonder how people on benefits do it. It’s dawning on me now that I’ve got to live this life and do this. But I’ll never starve myself to pay the bills. I’ll always make sure my family eats, and then I’ll pay the bills when I can. I’ve always lived by my means. I don’t go out, I don’t drink - but it’s still hard.”
Last week Peter and Angela Jones, from Pontlottyn, treated themselves to fish and chips, which came to £25 each. Peter said while he knew the price of fish had rocketed, he was still baffled by the cost.
“We were averaging spending £120 a week on food but we’ve cut that by a third,” Angela said. “We’ve cut some things out. We don’t buy much beef now, and the price of butter is astonishing. I’m concerned about the gas and electricity going up because where we live now it’s costing £139 a month without gas and with a coal fire. But we’re moving house soon and we’ll have to pay a lot more.”
In Merthyr’s popular Winchester Bar Stuart Lancaster is well into his daily ritual. Before heading to the bar to unleash his “terrible repertoire of jokes” on the punters and to watch the horse racing, he has duck eggs on toast.
“I’ve struggled for a duck egg for weeks,” the former pub landlord who travels to the town from Brecon said. “My neighbour works all over Wales and Herefordshire, and he picks up duck eggs for me at different farms. He never paid more than £2. Last month he couldn’t get them anywhere - so I had to go to the supermarket and I realised they’d gone to £3. The next week was the same, no eggs from any farms. Now that’s just my duck eggs. I can’t imagine what people with young families are going through.
“I can survive, I get by OK. By that I don’t mean I’m rich - not by any means. But if I’m cold I’ll put the heating on. But you do feel it more in your pocket now. I’m going to vote Labour for the first time in my life at the next election. After two years of constant Tory cock-ups I’ve had it. I know many are not coping and I feel very sorry for those who are in that position. I don’t want to see this country with such a divide. I’m fortunate that all my family are grown up now and have houses of their own. They’re getting by. I never bought a lottery ticket, but I might buy one now. And if I happened to win it, I’d pay off their mortgages and then I’d rest in peace.”
READ NEXT:
- 'Our sister and nieces were killed in an arson attack, we'll fight to the end for justice'
- 'Devastated' family pub's gas bill rockets from £900-a-month to £9,000 for six weeks' energy
- Pub forced to close as bills rocket from £600 a month to £1,000 a week
- Passengers told to wait until 3.30am in Cardiff Airport as flight faces 10-hour delay
