- author, Felicity Evans
- Role, Money Editor, BBC Wales News
The economic shocks of the past four years have created a huge hole in the family finances of Justin Williams, a father of three.
The self-employed carpenter from Ystrad Mynach near Caerphilly has seen his savings eroded and his mortgage repayments rise by 40%.
Williams, 49, said he and his wife Hayley, who works as a paralegal, have been set back “at least” a decade.
It comes as political parties set out their stalls for the general election by explaining how they will help make people’s money go further.
But Mr. and Mrs. Williams are already thinking about making big changes.
He added: “We have reached a point where we are considering downsizing and starting over.”
The Covid pandemic dealt the first blow because Williams had not been self-employed long enough to qualify for state support during the lockdown, so he and his wife had to eat from their savings to support their family.
Then the cost of living crisis hit and Williams found his fuel bills spiraling.
“I was working in Cheltenham and Gloucester and instead of paying £80, I was paying around £160 to fill a lorry,” he said.
The couple had to take out additional loans on their mortgage, which – coupled with rising interest rates – raised their mortgage costs by 40%.
“I have coworkers around me and everyone is in the same boat,” Williams said.
But he said it was exhausting “when on the weekend you think it would be nice to go to the pub on a nice day and sit in the beer garden” and you know you can’t.
Price rises have slowed significantly since their peak in October 2022, but remain much higher than they were a few years ago.
Rising prices are a problem for Joanna Hexter, from Taffs Well, Rhondda Cynon Taf, who has found that the lack of flexible care for her nine-year-old Josie limits her ability to work as a supply teacher.
“I never know when I’m going to work from one day to the next,” she said.
“It’s a very big problem because I can’t go to work without getting child care.”
Mrs. Hexter’s husband, Sid, works as school superintendent, but the family needs a second income.
“It was really hard,” she said.
“We both need to work, basically, just to cover basic expenses. So, with me not being able to get childcare so I can work, it means we have to be very careful in keeping an eye on every penny.”
As someone who has worked since she was 14, Ms Hexter said she finds it “very frustrating” to be in this position.
So, with the general election looming, how does Ms Hexter feel about the future?
“You get these politicians making all these promises before they get elected, and then what I find is that they get elected and then they don’t keep a lot of the promises,” she said.
“So it’s really hard to try to stay optimistic about how the future is going to get better.”
Childcare policy is under the control of the Welsh Government, which said in a statement: “We work closely with leading childcare organizations in Wales to increase the availability of childcare services.
“Clybiau Plant Cymru Children’s Clubs (CPCKC) also aims to help communities in Wales by promoting, developing and supporting high-quality, affordable and accessible out-of-school childcare clubs.”
The Conservative Party said it would offer 30 hours of free childcare to working families with children aged between nine months and five years in England, and the Welsh Government will receive additional funding to enable this to happen in Wales.
It also promised to cut National Insurance (NI) by a further 2% for employees and scrap the main rate of National Insurance for the self-employed by 2029.
Labor said it would ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and ensure the minimum wage is a real living wage.
It also promised not to increase income tax or value-added tax, and to implement an economic growth plan.
Plaid Cymru has promised further investment in its childcare workforce to achieve its vision of providing high-quality services for children aged from 12 months to school age.
It also wants to increase child benefit payments by £20 a week and give powers to set income tax bands to the Welsh Government.