A Wirral carer said he is unable to get any enjoyment out of life due to the cost of living crisis.
Chris Furlong, 31, from Tranmere, a care worker, said he is working “all the hours” and is still only able to afford the rent as the landlord is his mum. Mr Furlong, who rents with his fiancee, said: “I’m not getting any enjoyment at the moment. I just go to work, pay the bills and go to bed.
“It is very deflating. Sometimes I think ‘why am I bothering’.” Mr Furlong said he used to go to lots of gigs but could not afford to buy tickets any more. The only events he was able to go to were with tickets bought before the pandemic.
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The biggest hit to Mr Furlong’s finances was energy costs. Earlier this month, electricity and gas bills for a typical household went up by £693 per year. Although Chancellor Rishi Sunak has brought in a £350 support package to help residents, many are still feeling the pinch.
Mr Furlong added: “With the increase in food prices I have been managing, but it’s the energy one that’s shook us a bit more. The house we live in is not the warmest anyway, so we have to spend more to heat it. As it’s an end terrace heat escapes more.”
Reflecting on his life before the pandemic, Mr Furlong said he used to travel to lots of different places. He added he played music himself, something he still does, however it is much more difficult now and he is only able to afford to travel to a gig if the promoter pays a lot more than they would have done before the pandemic.
Mr Furlong’s is one of many stories of hardship in Wirral. Although many did not want their names revealed, residents spoke of working three different jobs and still struggling to get by.
Others said they have even taken to reducing the number of meals they eat every day. What was most common among those who discussed their experiences was the feeling that rising bills had taken away the chance for them to maintain a social life.
Summing up this sentiment, one person said: “It’s not living, it’s just existing.” Another person said they live alone, work full-time, provide part-time care for their elderly mother and have a son who lives many miles away.
Given current cost of living pressures, they added: “Now I have to work more to have less, cannot give the support my mother needs and [have to] reduce time seeing my son while sitting in a house with no heating or lights, reading a book by candle, eating cold cans of beans as I daren't use the gas cooker.”