'Lunchflation' affecting employees as they return to office

• Inflation has made going back to office more expensive.
• Food and commuting expenses without raise in salaries make it difficult. 
• Restaurants have raised menu prices due to global inflation. 

Inflation without any increase in employees' salaries has made going back to the office more expensive due to food, commuting, and daycare expenses, reports CNN. 

Some daily costs have been eating up employees' incomes, making life after the pandemic difficult. One of them is eating at the office. 

Having coffee and lunches with co-workers comes at a high price. The Labor Department reported earlier this month that the index for food away from home increased 7.2% over the last year. 

Data also shows that food prices have gone up. For example, Starbucks raised prices in the US earlier this year and in October 2021 and added that the prices could go even higher.

Restaurants and other companies have raised menu prices due to global inflation.  "Lunchflation is 100% real, everything is more expensive," said Kelly Yau McClay, who lives in Potomac, Maryland.

He said that it was previously much easier to buy decent lunch without tearing a hole in your pocket. 

CNN gathered public opinion where several people agreed that work-related expenses were quite real. 

Yau McClay, whose work has now become hybrid, shared that she spends about  $30 to $35 a day on work-related expenses.

For some others, it has also been beneficial on some fronts. Sara Hill, who has four children, said she noticed her grocery bill had increased during the lockdown with more meals being cooked at home. 

"I was eating more food because I am closer to the kitchen... my food spending was still increasing because we were all home," Hill said.

Apart from "lunchflation", with fuel prices rocketing, commuting to work has become difficult and takes away a lot of the income. 

For working parents, childcare is a huge expense. Child Care Aware of America reported that in 2020, the national average annual cost of childcare was $10,174.