Debt Local has seen first hand the crippling effect of debt on families who have tried to struggle on through the recession, but who are now in need of debt help.

For more information please visit at http://www.debtlocal.co.uk

Recent interest rate rises on mortgages and redundancies in once-secure jobs like banking and the high street retail sector have meant more professional and low- to middle-income staff finding themselves facing existing debts without a salary to meet monthly payments.

The current austerity measures appear to be affecting the most vulnerable families in the UK:

• The TUC has estimated that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is taking the greatest toll on the poorest households in the UK, which are paying comparatively more for food and utilities

• In February, the poorest 10% of households spent 17% of their income on food and non-alcoholic drinks

• The wealthiest 10% of households spent just 10% of their income on food, reducing exposure to price increases in food and family drinks.

• The price of food and non alcoholic drinks was estimated to have risen by 3.7% in February.

In February, headline inflation stood at 3.6% - and according to the TUC's living standards index, CPI inflation figures were:

• 4.1% for the poorest 10% of households in the UK

• 3.6% for middle income households in the UK

• 3.3% for the wealthiest 10% of households in the UK.

Wage growth was estimated to have fallen by 1.1% in February – with the incomes of the poorest families falling by 3% in real terms.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"Over the last year, the poorest households have suffered more than anyone else from rising food prices and soaring gas and electricity bills."

"The Chancellor's obsession with raising VAT, along with swingeing cuts to tax credits, has made life even tougher for those on low to medium incomes."

"Consumer spending plays a crucial role in driving our economy, so it's in all our interests for people to start getting decent pay rises - but the Government policy of confidence shattering austerity is having the opposite effect."

The impact of debt on families

Many of Debt Local’s customers are families struggling to bring up their children:

• A recent survey of 515 secondary schools by the Prince's Trust and the Times Educational Supplement (TES) revealed a 16% increase in malnutrition or inadequate diet among pupils

• The Prince's Trust/TES poll also found more teachers reporting children "scavenging" off fellow pupils' plates at lunchtime because they were not getting enough food at home

• Many schoolchildren now also see school as a place where they can "get warm" as families struggle to afford heating at home

• More children are arriving at school "unwashed", the poll discovered.

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