By Chris Williamson-
While national headlines have shifted to political drama and sensational stories, economic realities for many UK households remain dire. According to a 2025 report from Citizens Advice, four million people in England and Wales are living in a “negative budget,” meaning their income is insufficient to cover basic essentials like food, housing, and energy.
For these families, the financial shortfall is not small: the average deficit for such households in 2024/25 was £343 per month. That gap is projected to widen to £396 in 2025/26 if inflation and cost pressures continue.
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The strain extends beyond just balancing the books. According to the latest findings from Trussell Trust and data compiled by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 7.5 million people — or roughly 11% of the UK population — lived in food-insecure households in 2023/24. This includes nearly one in five children. Over the same period, the network of food banks distributed 2.89 million emergency parcels.
Despite such alarming figures, stories of financial hardship and hardship-driven hunger rarely dominate national headlines. Instead, such realities tend to surface only sporadically — when a scandal erupts, or when economic data reveals sharp inflation spikes or policy changes. The implication for many struggling households: their suffering goes largely unreported, rendering them effectively invisible.
Dr Hannah McIntyre, lecturer in media and society at the University of Sheffield, argues this lack of visibility has serious consequences. “There is a fatigue factor,” she says. “Journalists feel they’ve covered the ‘cost-of-living story’ already, yet hardship doesn’t vanish just because it becomes repetitive. Sustained reporting is actually what’s needed to keep public and political attention where it belongs.”
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This fading media focus coincides with improving news cycles that gravitate toward immediacy: political upheaval, celebrity scandals, breaking crime stories, or flashy economic data. Unfortunately, this leaves too little room for the steady, slower-moving crisis that many households are experiencing — one defined by missed meals, debt, and difficult choices between heating and food.
When news attention drifts away from economic hardship, public pressure on policymakers tends to wane — sometimes dangerously so. Without ongoing scrutiny, many families are left without a voice, and governments face no urgent demand to act. Dr Luis Marín, an economist at the London School of Economics, warns that “political will is heavily shaped by media noise. When the media becomes silent on inequality and hardship, policymakers feel less compelled to prioritise support or reforms.”
Worsening that dynamic is the growing gap between those shaping news coverage and those most affected by economic deprivation. Local journalism — once a lifeline for working-class and low-income communities — has shrunk dramatically in recent years.
Regions hit hardest by austerity, unemployment, and rising costs often no longer have reporters dedicated to following up on how national trends affect ordinary lives.
Fiona Turner, a former regional editor turned community-media advocate, argues that this decline has real results. “Local journalism is vital for highlighting the struggles of ordinary people — when those newsrooms vanish, so does visibility for people who are struggling.” Many households report feeling invisible, she says — “as though their hardship doesn’t count for public concern.”
These conditions aren’t hypothetical. Citizens Advice data shows that over half of debt-advice clients now fall into the “negative budget” bracket. Among these, single-parent families, renters, and households with children are particularly overrepresented. At the same time, energy and housing costs continue to rise.
A 2025 report from the Committee on Fuel Poverty found that around 11% of households in England roughly 2.73 million — now spend more than 10% of their income (after housing costs) on energy alone.
Adding to the pressure, food inflation remains stubborn. A 2025 survey found that 89% of UK households reported higher food bills, with 79% seeing increased gas or electricity costs. For many, that translates into tough choices: sometimes sacrificing meals, sometimes heating, sometimes essentials.
Yet this reality rarely breaks through to front-page news or sustained national debate. Instead, the conversation drifts — and with it goes public awareness and the political impetus that might prompt meaningful policy responses.
Without consistent media coverage, the stories of millions of ordinary people risk disappearing into silence. And when hardship becomes invisible, inequality deepens. As Dr Elaine Foster, a social-policy researcher at King’s College London, warns: “When financial struggle becomes normalised, it becomes easier to ignore — and much harder to reverse.”
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