QUEENTERESTING

It's been tough for everybody since the past few months. We witnessed even the biggest companies lay off thousands of workers to keep from closing down. And unfortunately, some actually do close down. Now employment is a big issue in the current economic state of the world. How else does it affect our lives? How does it affect even merely our daily activities?

Read this compilation of the top 15 effects recession has on our lives. This report is more UK-based but the rest of the world can very much relate to it:

out: Baths
in: Showers

Long, lazy baths, which use far more hot water than showers, are becoming a thing of the past. Unilever reports that sales of bubble baths are down while demand for shower gels is up.

out: pints in pub
in: cans at home

Drinkers are calling time on pubs – and staying in with a four-pack. Pub beer sales fell 10 per cent in the last year.

out: hairdressers
in: hair dye kits

Get those plastic gloves on... An Asda survey found that hair dye sales are up 27 per cent – and four in 10 customers were cutting back on trips to the hairdressers. Stylist Andrew Barton revealed a 67 per cent surge in demand for his blonde hair products compared to last year, with women hitting the (bleach) bottle to lift the economic gloom.

out: bottled water
in: tap water

Good news for the environment – sales of still bottled water are down 15 per cent year on year, say Asda. Why pay when freebies are on tap?

out: fresh food
in: frozen food

More of us are stocking up on food that will last longer.

Demand for Sainsbury’s frozen peas has doubled year on year. Frozen prawns were up 400 per cent and frozen garlic bread rocketed by 40 per cent. Sales at Iceland are also up 12 per cent, while Hull-based chain Heron and Leeds-based Frozen Value are ahead more than 11 per cent.

Figures from saveborrowspend. co.uk show sales of tinned products rose eight per cent in a year.

out: shop sarnies
in: packed lunches

The takeaway sandwich could soon be brown bread. More than a third of us say we are buying fewer shop sarnies than a year ago, says a Sainsbury’s poll. And 15 per cent of us have stopped buying them completely. Meanwhile, sales of lunch-boxes are up 68 per cent at Robert Dyas, as we save dough by making our own.

out: branded food
in: own-labels

Shoppers are checking out more own-label value lines. Sainsbury’s Basics range is growing at 40 per cent a year and six in 10 customers buy own-brand items.

out: foreign hols
in: british breaks

Who needs the costly Costas when you’ve got the good old British seaside to explore? The weak pound and a drop in disposable income has led to a seven per cent fall in the number of Brits holidaying abroad in a year, says the Office for National Statistics figures. Meanwhile, at Pontins bookings are up 20 per cent on the year.

out: new clothes
in: mending

Fashion is falling out of fashion as we make do and mend. Retail sales of clothing and household goods are down 1.8 per cent on last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Meanwhile, John Lewis reports sales of buttons are up 43 per cent and Argos says sales of sewing machines are 50 per cent higher.

out: special cleaners
in: Multi-purpose

The demand for niche-cleaning products has been a washout, with sales dropping six per cent since last year. Meanwhile sales of multi-purpose household products are up by two per cent.

out: new cars
in: car repairs

Sales of new cars since January have stalled (30 per cent down on last year say the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders). Drivers are repairing old motors rather than buying new models.

out: shop cakes
in: home baking

Stork margarine – a staple of wholesome home-baking – is flying off supermarket shelves, according to makers Unilever.

out: divorce
in: staying wed

Hard times can push even the strongest relationship to the limit, but couples going through a rocky patch are making more of an effort to stay together – because they can’t afford not to. Relate counsellor Denise Knowles says: “In the past couples may have split up and put their house on the market, but nothing is selling so they are stuck.”

out: Shop veg
in: grow your own

Sales of vegetable seeds from B&Q are up by 27 per cent, and an ICM poll found that 26 per cent more people are growing their own fruit and veg.

out: eating out
in: home cooking

Swanky restaurants may be off the menu when you are cutting back, but you can still enjoy posh nosh at home. At Asda sales of curry ingredients leapt by 40 per cent last year as did demand for luxury ingredients like balsamic vinegar (up 70 per cent) and olives (50 per cent). Sales of Knorr stock cubes are growing by “double-digits” as more people choose to cook from scratch, and sales of ready-meals also went down by 40 per cent.

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