Scraping by after 50 years of work

Brenda McElhatton pushes her trolley along the supermarket isle and stops in front of a fridge.

The branded butter she always buys her husband has gone up in price again. But housebound and living with dementia, it’s one of the few luxuries he gets to enjoy these days. Brenda reaches for a pack and gently places it among her items.

It’s a sorry state of affairs known by most across the country right now. Brenda, from Farnworth, is one of many currently struggling with the cost of food and essentials.

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Scraping by on her pension, she’s even considered coming out of retirement and finding herself a job just to make ends meet.

“It’s hard,” the 68-year-old told the Manchester Evening News. “Will [prices] eventually go down? No. Not for a long while.

“Pensioners don’t get the extra cost of living payments. I still have the same bills to pay as everyone else. I still have to keep the house running.

“If my husband wants something, I get him it, because that’s all the pleasure he’s got. It makes you wonder why you worked for 50 years.”

Brenda isn’t the only one struggling. The number of people on Universal Credit in Bolton has reached an all-time high, according to new figures.

Stats from the Department for Work and Pensions show 34,753 people were using the benefit in the borough as of March, the most claimants ever recorded in the area.

Universal Credit is a benefit available to those out of work, disabled or below a threshold of earnings and savings. Those claiming Universal Credit rose across England during the pandemic and has remained high ever since.

While pensioners and the unemployed struggle, skilled workers face a