The UK is experiencing the sharpest decline in living standards since the 1950s, with millions now in working poverty and many having to choose between heating their homes and eating. Exacerbated by Government policy and multiple global crises, inflation has risen exponentially, now standing at 6.2 per cent and forecast to reach an extraordinary 10 per cent by the end of the year.
Soaring inflation, in short, means the money you earn is worth less than it did before - leaving bills even harder to pay for millions. There are now more food banks in Britain than McDonald's fast food outlets and the cost of living crisis is not showing signs of lessening.
Analysis published by the York-based social change organisation Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) revealed as many as 1.8 million children, 31 per cent of children, are now growing up in the most extreme levels of poverty.
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How much money you need to live in the UK?
In the UK, if you are single with no children and live outside of London, you have to earn £20,383 per year giving a net income of £325.26 per week, to achieve a minimum decent standard of living, according to Minimum Income Calculator. In inner-city London, a single person would need to earn £35,286 (£508.18 per week) and in outer London £28,817 (£428.78 per week).
Outside of the capital, couples with two primary school children need around £35,824 per year between them. Meanwhile, a single parent with one primary school-aged child would need £527.55 a week.
These calculations are based on what the public thinks the minimum decent standard of living is, otherwise known as the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) and is used to calculate the UK living wage. A lmost all households officially defined as being in income poverty are also below the MIS.
The MIS is overseen by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and developed by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at the University of Loughborough. The JRF, it sets out what the public thinks are essential goods and services for an adequate standard of living. This includes, but is more than just, "food, clothes and shelter". It is about having what you "need in order to have the opportunities and choices necessary to participate in society".
Annually, members of the public are invited to take part in a consultation with experts, where they discuss "the baskets of goods and services required by different types of households". Participants are chosen to reflect ordinary people in the UK and allow the MIS to be as accurate as possible.
You can see if you earn enough to have a decent standard of living by using the calculation tool here.
