This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
SOARING living costs in Germany have forced increasing numbers to cut back on food, according to a damning new report from the European Union statistical office Eurostat.
Tuesday’s figures show that many people in Europe's economic powerhouse are struggling to buy meat, fish or vegetables.
The statistics, requested by the opposition Die Linke party, show the number of people struggling to cope with the cost of living has risen by 0.9 per cent to 11.4 per cent on the previous year, meaning nearly 10 million people in the EU’s most populous nation are often going without proper meals.
The figures climbed to 19.3 per cent for single parents, up 2.6 per cent.
In June, inflation in Germany hit 6.4 per cent.
Die Linke’s leader in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, called for a suspension of the sales tax on essential food items and for state controls on supermarket pricing.
He said: “The supermarket has become a rip-off stronghold.
“The higher the price, the higher the quota of pasta with ketchup.”
He added that children were among the particularly vulnerable groups exposed to the problem and demanded the introduction of a guaranteed basic child allowance.
