Increasing prices for basic needs has become a problem for most Egyptian households, but especially among low-income families. The problem is linked to an imbalance between wages and prices, which low-income families are particularly vulnerable to. For these families, nothing has changed since the Revolution, which they had hoped would bring changes to ease their difficult circumstances, but stubborn poverty has dampened those hopes. Although most families have a steady income every month, whether low or high incomes, people suffer a gap between income and daily demands, which makes shopping a difficult task. Each time a mother enters the marketplace, a price battle ensues between her and the vendors. “I am going to the market to look for the lowest price, search for broken potatoes and buy wings of chicken to be able to make ‘soup'," Fathia Hassan, mother of 6 children, told The Egyptian Gazette. “Every time I go to buy fruits, but in the end I only have enough for subsidised bread. It is not enough to buy any fruit," Hassan added. “My family has many daily demands. I must bring food daily and pay school fees, as well as gas and electricity bills. All these give me a headache daily. My rate and my husband's rate are hardly enough to meet the basic necessities. I buy half a kilo of meat every month and I buy small fish because it is priced the lowest," Hassan complained. According to Emad el-Shemeiy, it is hard for families to live according to a budget because the financial demands are not consistent from month to month. “In the last days of each month, there is a deficit in the family budget. I have to borrow money to cover the last part of the month and pay the debt at the first of the following month. The pattern repeats every month," Mohamed el-Awadi, worker at gas station, told the same newspaper. Mahmoud Kamal, 35, said that the political issues no longer trouble him. He is despaired by the successive political developments. His priority now is to look for other work to increase his income, which he believes, will not be enough to provide the basic items of his family next year. “Last year, my salary was the only good one. It helped me achieve a decent life for my family, but now the situation is different. I may not be able to pay school fees for my children, so I have to sell the car and use the public transport to reduce the expenses of the house. This simply will be a decline in the level of my family living," Kamal said. Kamal explained that the current Government is the main reason which causes the burdens of Egyptian, for example raising prices for services such as electricity, gas and water. “This decision will make us commit to the words of Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil to use cotton clothing to protect us during the summer heat instead of air conditioners. In addition, we may just use one lamp in the house. Next summer, electricity bills will be very expensive, and we cannot pay it," Kamal pointed out. “I have three children and a salary of LE450. How I can pay the bills for food, clothes, schools and electricity?" Raafat Baskharoun asked rhetorically. “Because of my low income, I closed my flat and now live with my father. But the strange thing is that I have an electricity bill of LE150 even though the flat is closed," Raafat explained. “I hate the life. Everyday, I must face the demands for my family. I spend money everyday, although I take salary only one time monthly. I cannot achieve happiness for my children," Abeer Ezz, a widow, said. “I have every month a difficult sum to work with that I must use to solve many problems. But with a salary of LE600 monthly, how can I pay all bills for the services and demands of my family? The matter needs an economic experiment," Ezz added.
