This week is Sharewear Clothing Scheme’s national awareness campaign to highlight the problem of clothing poverty throughout the UK.
With the rising cost of living impacting people across the country, it is extremely important to discuss all struggles caused by this, including the impact on the Right to Clothing.
With an 11% rise in clothing prices, access to this right is becoming more and more difficult. For people dealing with unaffordable debt, clothing can be one of the first expenses to cut, regardless of how necessary it may be. UK Clothing Poverty Awareness Week hopes to share the belief that the Right to Clothing should have more importance in UK law.
Clothing Poverty: The Hidden Problem
The UK’s problem with clothing poverty is a stark comparison alongside our growing problem with textile waste. In the UK, the equivalent of £12.5 billion worth of clothing is sent to landfill every year. If you are able to enjoy a new outfit for every event, or you are leaving 73% of your wardrobe untouched, then it’s hard to see the other side; where children are going to school with re-worn uniforms and adults are struggling to afford appropriate wear for an interview.
There are an estimated 5.5 million adults experiencing clothing deprivation in the UK; and this number has likely grown in the wake of the cost of living crisis.
Many of us are unaware of the depths to which this problem is affecting people across the country. So, clothing poverty is often described as a “hidden problem”.
However, people affected by this can include anyone from homeless people, to families who are struggling to make ends meet and so cutting costs on essential clothing, to people who are unable to purchase new clothes once their old ones are worn through or outgrown.
Cutting Costs by Cutting Back
The cost of living crisis has many of us cutting back on both essential and non-essential expenses. Almost 2/3rds of people across the UK are struggling to pay for grocery shopping, essential travel and household bills.
Most of Scottish Government’s People’s Panel members reported that they changed their behaviour as a direct result of rising costs, including clothing, also reporting that they are buying clothes less frequently.
A recent survey found that 51% of people across the UK said they will cut spending in 2024. And for those who had cut back on spending, 62% said they had cut back on clothing (as the 2nd most voted for behind eating out). The survey also found that the most important factor when purchasing is price.
Shockingly, a recent study reported that 1.4 million people across Scotland regularly sit in the dark to save money on household bills. And close to a quarter of a million have cut spending on their children’s clothes.
In a 2023 Trust Deed Scotland® customer survey, we asked our customers what actions they had taken to combat the cost of living crisis¹:
- 78% cut back on socialising.
- 46% cut back on heating.
- 44% cut back on buying food.
- 28% borrowed money from family or friends.
- 11% took on additional credit.
How to Get Help
We know that one unaffordable expense can quickly lead to an inability to pay for other essential payments. As this builds up, people can find themselves in unaffordable debt.
With rising costs for all our expenses including clothing, many of us are struggling to make ends meet. If it’s become too much to handle, there is help available.
If you find yourself dealing with unaffordable debt, there are many debt solutions available to you. We are leading Scottish debt help providers, specialising in debt solutions such as Protected Trust Deeds and the Debt Arrangement Scheme.
To find out how we can help you, please get in touch.
- 0141 221 0999
- WhatsApp Service
- Trust Deed Scotland® Wizard Tool
¹ Survey results taken from November – December 2023 with 2,246 responses.