Rising costs hit poor households hardest
The minimum cost of living rose at twice the rate of inflation in the last year, driven by steep increases in the price of food, fuel and public transport.
Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) revealed the cost of a minimum household budget has risen by around 5% for most families.
JRF introduced the ‘minimum income standard’ (MIS) for Britain in 2008, which tracks the views of members of the public on acceptable standards of living.
Since 2008, while prices overall have fallen, families living on low incomes have seen their basic costs rise way beyond the rate of inflation.
Minimum budgets are impacted more heavily by increases in the price of food – up 9% since last year – than by mortgage interest rates – down 47%.
JRF’s research revealed that a single person needs to earn at least £13,900 a year before tax in order to afford an acceptable standard of living, while a couple with two children needs to earn £27,600.
Its report, A minimum income standard for Britain in 2009, says that in tough economic times, benchmarks like MIS can keep sight of what levels of income society finds acceptable.
‘A vigorous public and political debate about the acceptable level of a minimum income and how to achieve it, from recession into recovery, is as important as ever,’ it says.
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