Poll reveals Brits cutting back on summer holidays and eating out due to cost of living crisis

8 Aug 2023

EMBARGO: 22:30 Sunday 6th August

Parents of younger children more likely to be making summer cutbacks due to cost of living crisis
Eight in ten mortgage holders already have or expect to make summer cut backs, with interest rates yet again rising
Around two in five say that they are already or expect to eat out less, one in six have or expect to go without a summer holiday
Liberal Democrats urge government to scrap tax cuts for big banks and provide more help with cost of living crisis

New polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has found UK adults cutting back on summer activities due to the cost of living crisis.

Around two in five (37%) say that they are already or expect to eat out less, one in six (17%) have or expect to go without a summer holiday.

One in ten expect to visit family and friends less (9%) or go to fewer outdoor events (9%).

Parents to children under 18 (86% vs. 71% of those without children) are more likely to say they have already or expect to have to cut back on at least one of the activities listed this summer as a result of the rising cost of living.

Younger age groups (84% of 18-34s and 82% of 35-54s vs. 66% of over 55s) are also more likely to say they have already or expect to have to cut back on at least one of the activities.

Over eight in ten (83%) of those who own their home with a mortgage say they are already or expect to make these cutbacks, higher than renters and those who own their home outright.

The Liberal Democrats have urged the government to reverse the £3bn tax cuts for big banks, and instead provide more cost of living support for families at risk of losing their home as mortgage bills rise by hundreds of pounds a month.

This week, The Bank of England raised interest rates whilst HSBC announced their profits have doubled year-on-year to £16bn in the first six months of 2023.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

“It is shameful that the government is ploughing on with massive tax cuts for the big banks, who are refusing to pass on saving rates whilst hiking mortgage bills. They do not deserve the reward of tax cuts, whilst at the same time, taxes are hiked on hardworking Brits.

“Families across the country struggled through a winter of high energy bills, only to be clobbered with eye-watering mortgage payments this summer. The Chancellor just continues to sit on his hands. How out of touch can this Conservative government be?

“There is no let up in the cost of living crisis. It is not just the weather causing misery for Brits this summer.

“It is time the government acted before interest rates rise any further, causing untold pain for millions of hardworking families.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

Methodology: Savanta interviewed 2,289 UK adults aged 18+ online between 28th and 30th July 2023. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade.

Full table of results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HYyKxEjkf8NVqXoWX3_7njcX2fWIeOeV/edit#gid=1107580036

Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget confirmed a cut to the Bank Surcharge from 8% to 3% from 1 April 2023. Combined with the government’s cuts to the Bank Levy that have taken place since 2016, it means banks are being handed a total tax giveaway of £3.2 billion in 2023-24.