Poverty has become “endemic and grinding” in Wales, a new report from the Bevan Foundation has warned.

New insights gathered by YouGov on behalf of the Bevan Foundation have revealed that families across Wales are continuing to struggle to make ends meet, with almost one in eight (12 per cent) sometimes, often or always struggling to afford the essentials.

While the impact of the cost-of-living crisis has eased slightly, the lives of hundreds of thousands of families across Wales continue to be blighted by poverty.

Speaking on behalf of the Bevan Foundation, Joel Davies said: “While for some households, finances might be feeling slightly less stretched, our new data shows that hardship remains at far greater levels than before the cost-of-living crisis began.

“People continue to struggle with the most basic essentials of food and energy in particular, and can’t afford to replace basic clothing and household essentials when they wear out.”

Food and energy costs continue to be unaffordable for large proportions of the population.

24 per cent of adults say that they have skipped meals for themselves or cut down on the size of meals in the three months to the survey, with the same saying they have gone without heating in the home in the same period.

The results from the survey show that without enough money coming in, many people in Wales are relying on debt and borrowing to make ends meet.

Three in 10 have borrowed money because of increasing pressure on household finances in the previous three months, while one in eight are in arrears of more than a month on at least one household bill.

20 per cent of adults in Wales say that they are more in debt now than they were 12 months ago, with increases in the cost of living the most common reason given by far.

Four in ten people in Wales report that their financial situation has had a negative impact on their mental health, and a quarter that it has had a negative impact on their physical health.

People with a long-term health condition or disability experience high levels of hardship at disproportionate levels.

Half of people in receipt of Universal Credit have gone without meals or reduced the size of them due to the cost of living, more than double the average rate across Wales.

Steffan Evans, CEO of the Bevan Foundation argued that the report highlighted the urgent need to take more action to address poverty in Wales.

“Poverty continues to take a terrible toll on the lives of thousands of people across Wales,” he said. Reducing poverty must be the priority for the UK Government as it drafts its eagerly awaited autumn budget.

“Measures such as scrapping the two-child limit on benefits must therefore be front and centre of the budget.

“In Wales, with less than six months to go until the next Senedd election it is clear that all parties must place tackling poverty at the top of their lists as they draft their manifestos.”