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By Daniel Martin

Last updated at 1:41 AM on 27th December 2011

Ordinary families have been crippled by the rocketing cost of essential goods over the past decade, a report has found.

The price of basic purchases, such as food and fuel, soared by 43 per cent over the decade from 2000.

These rising costs – far above general inflation – have already wiped out most of the gains in living standards made by families on low and modest incomes in the early 2000s, before the downturn began, according to research.

Costly basics: The price of essential goods such as basic food items has shot up in the last ten years

The analysis, commissioned by the Resolution Foundation think-tank, revealed the squeeze on living standards for ordinary households has been more severe  than previously thought.

It found 30 per cent of working-age households now have incomes too low to afford the essential basket of goods.

It also showed that Labour’s stewardship of the economy may not have benefited ordinary families as much as the party had claimed.

Some household costs increased even more dramatically than the 43 per cent average, according to the study.

Household fuel more than doubled in price during the 2000s and water bills increased by 63 per cent, it said.

Report author Donald Hirsch, from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, said: ‘This research shows the dramatic impact recent price increases have had on the ability of households to afford a minimum standard of living.

‘Of course, global pressures on prices are largely beyond our control.

‘But that makes it all the more important that we do all we can to reduce pressures in areas where we can make a difference, such as transport costs, council tax and energy prices.’

The analysis is based on the commonly accepted essential basket of goods, which includes food, fuel, public transport and very occasional treats for families with children.

Burning a hole in your pocket? Fuel prices have more than doubled in the last decade

The official inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index, takes into account a wider basket of goods.  Over the decade to 2010, CPI was  27 per cent.

Gavin Kelly, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: ‘The fact that the rising cost of essential goods and services has outstripped official measures of inflation helps explain the disconnect many hard-pressed households have long felt between their own stagnating living standards and the growing affluence they see around them.’

Meanwhile, it has emerged that demand for frozen meals has rocketed among cash-strapped Britons desperate to cut their grocery bills and produce popular family meals for less.

The latest market data has revealed that the frozen food retail market has grown by 5.2 per cent since 2010, according to analysts Kantar Worldpanel.

Volume sales of frozen meat and poultry are up 5.5 per cent, pizza by 3.6 per cent and frozen fish by 3.4 per cent.

Brian Young, director general of the British Frozen Food Federation, told The Grocer magazine:  ‘In times of economic uncertainty choosing frozen meat and poultry allows consumers to make their favourite meals and foods at a much lower price point. ’

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