A recent survey has uncovered that one in 10 younger adults admitted to stealing items from supermarket self-checkouts over the past year, highlighting the impact of

soaring food prices. The survey also found that one in 25 adults overall intentionally skipped or incorrectly scanned items at the checkout, coinciding with record food and drink inflation.

The Office for National Statistics has reported a 19.1% increase in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages since March of the previous year. As a result, one in five adults sought financial support to cope with rising grocery costs, as revealed in a poll conducted for the money-saving app ZipZero.

The survey further disclosed that 8% of adults resorted to using their overdraft or credit cards to pay for food, while 6% had to borrow money from friends or family to cover essential purchases. Additionally, 5% of adults indicated that they had started relying on food banks.

The research demonstrated that younger adults are disproportionately affected, with 37% of them seeking financial assistance compared to 5% of individuals aged 55 and above.

Mohsin Rashid, CEO of ZipZero, expressed concern over the destabilizing effect of rising food prices on household finances. He emphasized that the escalating food inflation is contributing to increased poverty levels in the country. Rashid highlighted the resourcefulness of many individuals in finding ways to reduce expenses but warned that the situation is becoming increasingly challenging.

Given the significant number of adults resorting to petty theft and food banks to mitigate costs, Rashid called for sector-wide intervention similar to the Energy Support Scheme to prevent the crisis from worsening.

The survey was conducted by Opinium and involved online interviews with 2,000 adults in the UK from March 3 to 7. Photo by Chris Talbot, Wikimedia commons.