More than a third of people in Barnsley going without hygiene or sanitary products

According to a survey from Healthwatch Barnsley, 36 per cent of people in Barnsley have had to go without sanitary or hygiene products due to financial pressures. This rises to 55 per cent of people in the Dearne.

Out of 139 survey respondents, 35% said they had ‘just enough money for basic necessities and little else’. A total of 21.5% said they did not have enough money for basic necessities. A total of 45% of the respondents said they ad gone without essential hygiene or sanitary products. One respondent said they had to "cut down on using the shower to save costs".

Another said they had found it difficult to "choose between food, hygiene products and bills". Meanwhile, the report also noted there had been a "marked increase" in people avoiding dentists to keep their living costs down.

"There has also been a rise in the number of people who say that their physical and mental health have been affected by the cost of living increase," it adds.

National figures show 4.2 million people facing hygiene poverty for the first time last year as prices increase. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned of a drop in living standards by 3.5% in 2024-2025 compared with levels from before the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the largest drop in living standards since ONS records began in the 1950s.

Julia Burrows, Barnsley’s previous director of public health, said last year that families in Barnsley needed an extra £100 per month to sustain "normal levels of living", adding that the cost of living crisis had "disproportionately" affected Barnsley where poverty was already increasing before the pandemic.