Soaring costs could strip ‘basic dignity’ from millions in UK

theguardian.com:

Soaring inflation and energy costs will leave millions of people on low incomes thousands of pounds short of what the public say is the minimum amount needed to live with basic dignity in the UK this winter, according to an annual survey.

The annual Minimum Income Standard study is based on intensive deliberations by groups of socially representative UK residents, who agreed what a normal, no-frills lifestyle would cost and look like in 2022, taking into account housing, food, clothing, household goods, transport and social participation.

It reveals that even factoring in the government’s existing cost of living support package, a single adult without children working full-time on the national minimum wage will make nearly £7,000 less than the £25,500 they would need on an annual basis to fund a basic decent standard of living.

A couple working full-time on the national minimum wage who have two young children will make £6,200 less than the income standard of level of £43,400 needed to reach the basic living standard for a household of their size and composition.

The gap is even wider for households reliant on social security: a single working-age adult with no children would receive 32% of the minimum income needed for a decent standard of living, even after existing Treasury cost of living support. A single parent on benefits with two young children would get 54%.

Abigail Davis of Loughborough University, a co-author of the study, said: “As prices continue to rise well ahead of incomes, the reality is that more and more people are going to be focused on survival – keeping a roof over their heads, putting food on the table, and keeping their homes warm – and will fall well short of reaching this minimum living standard.”

Pete