One in four shop workers are skipping meals every month to meet bill payments, according to research from a trade union.
According to a survey by Usdaw union, this figure has gone up from 1 in 20 last year, as Britain s lowest paid workers struggle with the cost of living crunch.
According to predictions from the Bank of England, inflation is projected to soar past 13 per cent this autumn.
The rise in petrol prices and other household costs has hit workers, according to a survey of more than 5,500 retail staff.
Nearly half of respondents said their ability to travel to their workplace had been impacted by heightened petrol prices and travel costs.
Seven in 10 retail workers said they had been reliant on insecure borrowing, with six in 10 having difficulty making repayments.
Many respondents talked about how increased fuel prices led to a reduction in shifts, to ask for a transfer to a store closer to home or even to leave work altogether, said Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary.
Ministers had offered sticking plasters that go nowhere near covering rising prices and bills, Lillis said.
He called for significant increases in minimum wage rates and fundamental reforms to end insecure work. Usdaw wants minimum wage rates of at least 12 per hour as a step towards 15 for all workers.
A HM Treasury spokeswoman said that people are struggling with rising prices and that we have acted to protect the 8 m most vulnerable British families through at least 1,200 direct payments this year, with additional support for pensioners and those who claim disability benefits. Every household will get 400 off their energy bills this winter. A tax cut in July will allow people on Universal Credit to keep 1,000 more of what they earn and reduce fuel duty by 5 p, saving a typical family of 100, as well as saving the average employee more than 330 a year.