The ability to choose is perhaps the greatest freedom of all, and tougher times call for tougher decisions and choices. One can say that inflation perhaps cracks the toughest whip of all, as it forces people to cut back, improvise and save.
The Sensitive Price Index recently revealed that weekly inflation has surged by 22 per cent in Pakistan, although it does not mention the corresponding period.
When you look at the markets filled with consumer goods and shoppers, restaurants thronged, and roads swarming with new, leased cars, the figures seem misleading. Many shopkeepers and small business owners correct the notion that markets filled with people doesn’t mean that they are all shopping. In fact, they are buying things but in far less quantities, substituting purchases, going for cheaper alternatives and improvising. “Most inquire and haggle over the prices of multiple items yet end up buying only some of them,”
Ali, a sales person, says that people are being forced to make cutbacks, willingly and unwillingly, in their expenditures. Housewives are, of course, concerned about the rapidly rising prices of groceries and other household items, while bread winners are more concerned about paying bills.
Samina, a stay-at home-mother of two, iterated that shopping for groceries has never been tougher for her. She was cooking less meat-based dishes and more vegetables and lentils initially, but now she is making cutbacks there. “Daal being the poor man’s food is a cliché; it’s a luxury, so are potatoes, onions and tomatoes; the list goes on,” Samina sighs as she remarks.
Saif, a father of three, is more concerned about paying bills. He got his landline disconnected a few months ago due to his inability to pay huge bills. He also has started commuting via public transport to work instead of his bike. However, both Samina and Saif concur that they find less space to wiggle in terms of expenditures on their children and to make them understand why they have to cut back. Children are prone to peer pressure and see an adjustment in lifestyle as a sign of deprivation and thus protest.
Arif, a banker, has been cutting back on the weekly fast food and shopping trips he used to take his children out on, and has to face their sullen moods often.
Laiba, on the other hand, has found a solution for this, thanks to the cooking classes she took. She has started making some of these fast food items at home and this has made some difference to her family’s budget. “But this of course means a lot more hard work for me,” she laments. As a family, they have started to go to a park in their locality and watching DVDs at home instead of going to shopping malls and cinemas.
However, things are far tougher for the newly married Nain, as her husband lost his job after just a few months of their marriage. “We had to move in with my in-laws; a great help but a huge adjustment nevertheless for me. The scrimping and pinching of pennies is taking a toll on our life; and we have used all of our salami already,” Nain complains. She is also planning to start teaching in a nearby school and is withholding starting a family for now.
Nevertheless, it can be argued that making adjustments and cutbacks in lifestyle are at least possible for the middle class families; however, those living at the bottom of the rung have few survival options. Inflation has far graver implications for the lower income families, those struggling to survive on less than a dollar a day.
Razia, a household maid, had to recently take her son out of the government school he goes to and send him to a garage as an apprentice. Saeed, a daily wage earner, says that he can no longer afford to get his children new clothes even on Eid or buy any fruit for them. His greatest fear is when anyone falls ill.
A doctor at a charitable hospital recounted that her patients hailing from the lower income strata are reducing by the day, as they cannot afford the bus fares, even if they don’t have to pay anything for consultation or medicines. In their place she is seeing new faces; many amongst the white collar class can no longer afford private medial care. Medical care and education are among the necessities that are compromised when things get tough.
These narratives would sound familiar as many of us are already facing the music in terms of prioritising our necessities and luxuries. While personal austerity measures are empowering, forced austerity measures are crippling and humiliating. Inflation eats away spending power, constrains basic necessities, savings, security, peace of mind, and yet its appetite doesn’t seem to wane.