Rationing by supermarkets failed to prevent empty shelves before the lockdown because shoppers were buying only a little more than usual and not stockpiling, a report has said.
In March shops introduced restrictions for the first time since the Second World War on items such as lavatory paper, pasta, rice and hand gel because of fears about panic buying.
A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has shown that significant surges in demand were caused by more households than usual buying these products, but with only a small increase in the average quantities bought.
“Given current uncertainty, it is especially important to understand how households responded in the run-up to the lockdown in March,” Kate Smith, an associate director at the IFS,
