If you go into a supermarket in the UK today, you’re likely to find the baby formula either locked away or else covered in security tags.
Times are hard for so many people in our failing system, and the price of baby formula only keeps rising. According to the Competition and Markets Authority, it’s risen by 25 percent in the last two years alone. Wages and welfare payments haven’t risen by nearly so much.
Despite the fact that baby formula is heavily regulated in the UK for its nutritional content, large numbers of parents aren’t aware of that and buy brand name versions because they want to give their babies the best start in life.
To make matters worse, most major retailers don’t stock cheaper brands of baby formula. So even where there is a demand, parents have no choice but to fork over money they can barely afford.
Brand name products, such as Cow & Gate, have an 85 percent market share. Aldi is the only major supermarket to offer an own brand version of formula, at £8.99 for 900g. Meanwhile, brand name versions are being sold in major supermarkets for up to twice that price.
These high prices lead to high profit margins, meaning that both the retailer and manufacturer make more money than if the retailer offered a cheaper version alongside it. Once again, the economy being run on a for profit basis is harming millions of ordinary people to benefit a handful of members of the owning class.
Parents across the UK are struggling. They’re watering down baby formula to make it last longer, cutting back on heating, and making their children continue to wear shoes that are too small. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
No parent should have to worry about feeding their baby a nutritious diet in this day and age. We have enough wealth and productive capacity as a species to produce and distribute baby formula to everyone who needs it. The only thing standing in the way of that is the profit motive.
We need socialism. With shared ownership of the means of production – the stuff that’s used to make stuff – we can ensure that everybody has what they need to survive and thrive.
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