Do the Poor Pay More? An Investigation of British Grocery Purchase Prices

The key objective of this study is to assess whether poor households pay systematically higher prices than other households for identical food products. A growing body of research has shown that in different markets, some households face higher prices than others. A survey by the National Consumer Council (2004) suggested that poor households may pay higher prices for energy, telecommunications and financial services such as banking and credit. However, food prices have not been studied in detail in the UK. Much of the existing evidence as relied on localised, small-scale studies.