This comprehensive September 2023 report by the Open Data Institute and Mime Consulting sheds light on the stark realities and data gaps surrounding the UK's cost of living crisis. It emphasises the impact on housing, debt, food, and fuel, pointing out the critical need for improved open data to better understand and address these issues.

Published in September 2023, the report emerges from a collaboration between the Open Data Institute (ODI) and Mime Consulting. It addresses the cost of living crisis's profound effects on different societal aspects, notably housing, debt, food, and fuel. The report critiques the current data landscape, highlighting significant gaps and the urgent requirement for enhanced data availability to foster more effective research and policy-making.
The document lays out critical data challenges, including the need for integrating datasets for a holistic understanding, addressing the exclusion of key demographics from statistics, updating outdated datasets, and improving geographic granularity of data. It proposes the development of online open data tools and the adoption of open data standards to mitigate these issues.
The report is pivotal for stakeholders across sectors, offering insights into the interlinked nature of the crisis's domains and the compounded effect on vulnerable groups. It calls for immediate action to enhance data collection and sharing, aiming to guide strategic interventions and policy formulations to alleviate the crisis effectively.