Richard Kramer, Chief Executive at Sense, said: “Further food price hikes are yet another blow to disabled households, who may need specialist food and are already struggling to make ends meet after being hit by a barrage of untenable extra costs in recent years.
“Disabled people are particularly impacted by spiralling costs, as many need to spend more on specialist food and are dependent on energy-intensive equipment such as feeding machines. Increased costs have already pushed almost three-quarters of disabled households into debt, and with food prices only rising there is no end in sight.
“More than half of disabled families that we supported with our cost of living fund told us they needed this money to pay for food. No-one should be struggling to put food on the table, but that is the grim reality for disabled families up and down the country. It is a total injustice.
“Before the cost of living crisis hit, seven in ten people with complex disabilities had less than £1,500 in savings to weather the storm. Now the crisis is worsening, debts are rising and the government isn’t doing enough to help. We are urging the government to recognise the full impact of rising costs on disabled people and bring in a long-term plan of targeted support which addresses the additional expenses disabled people face.”
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