Financial News
- 11 July 2012, 6:23
Families Need To Earn £37k 'For Basic Living'
Families have been hit by soaring transport and childcare costs, leaving themwith a "monumental" task of trying to earn enough to get by, according to anew report.
Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that a couple with two children had to earn £36,800 for an acceptable standard of living, up by almost a third since 2008.
The charity said working families with children were being dealt a "damaging triple financial blow" of increased childcare costs, more expensive transport and cuts to tax credits.
Under a so-called minimum income standard worked out by the organisation, single people need to earn £16,400 a year, a lone parent with one child £23,900 and pensioner couples £231 a week.
A quarter of the UK population live below the standard - three million more than in 2008, two years before the general election.
Julia Unwin, chief executive of the JRF, said: "Families have a monumental task trying to earn enough to get by.
"Parents facing low wages and pressure on their working time have little prospect of finding the extra money they need to meet growing household expenses.
"This year's research shows that a dangerous cocktail of service cuts and stagnating incomes are being keenly felt by parents. Many working people face the risk of sliding into poverty."
Donald Hirsch, co-author of the report, added: "People are being more modest in terms of what they think needs to be spent on participating in society, but this thrift has been outweighed by rising costs.
"Parents have not changed their view of most needs, including a nutritious diet and participation by children in activities vital for social inclusion.
"What has changed is the ability of many families to afford such essentials."
Oxfam's director of UK poverty, Chris Johnes, commented: "Yet again we are seeing evidence of working families being hit hardest by a perfect storm of soaring living costs and cuts to services and crucial support, like working tax credits.
"Millions of families are struggling to get by on dwindling incomes and even when both parents work full time they each need to earn 50% above the minimum wage, in order to provide a decent standard of living for their kids.
"These figures are a warning that we could see a generation of families that have to go without essentials."
what do you think?
stevie may
The true face of capitalism - in order for less than 1 percent of the population to enjoy obscene opulent wealth, the remaining 99 percent of the populace have to survive on or around the poverty line. . . Thats how the system is perniciously engineered. We have an Underclass which has swelled to 5 million and soon childhood poverty will reach Victorian levels - malnutrition is on the rise along with OCD's and self harm/suicides are also rising. People are living without hope, completely disenfranchised from mainstream soceity. . . Whilst neoliberal thatcherite policies are allowed to continue, expect more division, more crime and more hatred from those who have been abandoned. . . Capitalism is a diseased form of governance, like a cancer eating away at the heart of democracy. . . Dig it into the soil of history. . . . . . And then salt the earth. . . .
Chris Robinson
Totally agree.
Robert Hare
Spoken like a true socialist, I totally agree
Roger Siviter
Stevie, I can't argue with you on that one, but try telling that to the anti-eu brigade who cheered Cameron for flouncing out of that summit recently, simply because his 'City' friends told him not to sign up to anything that was designed to curtail their avaricious practises!
Louisa Gieldon
Yeah, with you on that Stevie. I wish i could have put it as well as that. I feel so disheartened at some of the very selfish and uncaring comments on here, with working people at each other's throats. They don't seem to understand that they are being manipulated and keeping themselves at the bottom of the pile whilst the rich and powerful grow in wealth and political power.
chris
We never earned anything like that, not even half! We went self employed in 1989, kept outgoings low, no childcare(work from home) I have sent stuff (recycled/refurbs) to many countries. Bought used, done own repairs/building. I never needed to go on strike to demand more. What is essential?? What the advertisers tell us? In this nice secure country you can have a very good life, loads of bargains to be had. And without 'screwing' the system. The workingFamilyTaxCredits did come in very usefull in the Dark Days! But now people are buying/ordering!
herewegoagain10
37K a year? I wish. What really grates is that we are not so much sliding into poverty but heading full tilt and this government still insults us by pledging and sending billions of pounds to countries who either don't deserve, don't need or are rife with corruption. Meanwhile their own people are going without the basics. Just what the hell is going on?
Roger Siviter
It's called perversion!
Michael Hawkins
Its called living within your means - these figure take no account of regional variations in the cost of living To rent a properti in london can cost £26k Pa up North £4k I cities there is cheap public transport cars are not requires - in rural areas no public transport We make our choices in life - we need to live by them and not expect someone else to pay for them
Lucy Wilson
As a pregnant woman this scares me. My partner earns a good wage but I have struggled to get a teaching job since leaving uni and already worry about working as the baby gets older. It seems that sometimes we would do better by not working :( which is not what we would do but I do worry about the cost of living
gengisken1227
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
Barnaby Erdman
This world is hugely over populated and expect it to rise by another 1.8billion each year! People who contribute towards the cancer on this planet (humans) should be taxed more not less!! Humans are taking all the natural rescources we want without thinking or caring! This world will suffocate itself and die.... The sooner the better!
stewgwyn
Pregnant ? Partner ? No husband ? Struggling to get a job but still having a baby anyway ? Pretty scary priorities !
John Byrne
Barnaby, do you really hate life that much? Do you really want the human race to disappear within 100 years? I am glad I have a brighter outlook on life and can see some worth in life.
Louisa Gieldon
Stewgywn -first of all, many people i know call their husbands and wives their partner so you should not assume that Lucy is unmarried. If she is unmarried and pregnant it is none of your business and to be making moral judgements like that, in 2012, is a bit strange. I've lived with the same man for nearly thirty years and have two grown up children. We have no intention of ever marrying and that's a positive decision we have made. How dare you turn your nose up at Lucy for that. Finally, how do you know that she wasn't working when she became pregnant? In any case her partner works. What a silly personal attack on her - her priorities sound ok to me. Rock on Lucy!
Louisa Gieldon
barnaby, that's just downright weird. I'm glad it's not your finger on the big red button!
John Byrne
I have noticed that Barnaby has gone quiet Louisa, maybe he has decided to help the population problem already. I just love the comments and rants people have on here, makes better reading than the news.
Barnaby Erdman
Easy answer... Stop breeding! Fed up with people CHOOSING to have a kid then expecting everyone to feel sorry for them as they are "poor" lose the sky, fags, booze, shopping trips and holidays abroad! Start using charity shops, making and even growing your own food instead of frozen pizzas, chips and burgers! You'll be surpised how little you can live off! Walk to school, walk to the shop, my gran is 85 and walks a mile each way EVERYDAY! So don't tell me you can't walk three! This country is lazy! Expect everything for nothing an to have it on their doorstep! A family of 4 could happily live off under £20k a year
Mark Wood
Slight generalisation perhaps?? Most parents i know work hard, look after their kids and don't jhave any time/money for themselves.. yes there ARE some lazy people around, but not everyone's like that!
Lee Bennett
Rubbish Barnaby ,our mortgage is 8500 a year on its own + council tax clothes ,gas ,electric water.You are way out of touch pal.Still live with your parents do you ?
Jan N Andy Oakley-Hills
Apprenticeship rate £2.60 per hour = £104 p.wk = £5408 p.annum Basic min rate approx £6.00 per hour = £240 p.wk = £12,480 p.annum State pension couple approx = £274p.wk = £14,248 p.annum Thats the reality of what most people are expected to live on! Despite knowledge, experience etc, majority of working adults especially women are trying to live on this sort of income, so until the government starts working with real facts and figures nothing will change! Basic living costs are beyond most of us, that is why the money paid to bankers, politicians, etc is so obscene! National average wage is rubbish and misleading, but very convenient for the MPs to feed us even more bulls***!
peter
Jan, Where do you get that pension figure from? The State pension is no where near that amount. Unless of course you include pension credits, care allowance, free bus pass, free fuel allowance, help with rent and rates, mobility allowance etc etc etc.....
Lee Bennett
there was an article in the paper a few weeks back that said to have the same spending power as our grand parents had you would need to be on 44 grand a year .I would agree with that .Whos earning ?or what jobs are paying anywhere near that.?
karen henry
That amount is rubbish, We rent a house, have 1 child, no major gadgets and an old 4x4, I can comfortably do a weeks shop on 35.00 a week, we go camping most weekends throughout the spring/summer which costs next to nothing. I have a full larder and stockcupboard which I bulk buy in sales to fill it up and our income is way below the figure quoted. We don't however have credit cards or loans to pay off so what we earn is ours. My daughter is a well rounded, happy 7 year old who enjoys her life and doesn't feel like she is missing out at all. People need to live within their means and stop breeding like rabbits.
stewgwyn
You've hit the nail on the head, Karen, but I have to admire your resilience for camping in a summer like we've had this year !
Mark Wood
That's excellent Karen. Question is, if you had two children (as the figure assumes) who were say 9 and 11, would you still be shopping for £35 a week? Somewhat unlikely I think....and believe me things DO get more expensive as they grow! You are lucky (despite the waether?!) if you are able to go away camping most weekends - some of us have to work in order to make ends meet. Don't think it's really fair to accuse people of breeding like rabbits just because they have more than one child. ...
Julie Crumpton
Don't be so smug, Karen, ...wait for the teenage years!
Michael Mcardle
hi karen i think you should carry on doing what youre doing, ie camping. filling your larder with basic brand food items, fosake all major item like tv, washer, cooker, microwave, fridge freezer, etc, continue driving your old 4x4 .that is your perogative. however a l;ot of people want to live in the modern world . that is our perogative. also i think you should refrain from accusing people of breeding like rabbits. that i would say is quite frankly none of your business,
Louisa Gieldon
Karen i think we should all try to live less materialistic lives and i have no reason to believe that you are fibbing. But £35 a week for all your groceries, toiletries, cleaning stuff! I think I need lessons from you. I don't like ready made food and we cook everything from scratch, old hippies that we are, but what on earth do you eat ? However I agree with you about debt and credit cards-people are put under such pressure to have all the best and latest things. My neighbours redecorate their whole house every year and it seems senseless to me.
Teresa Foster
the only ones earning this are our mp,s the ones that are ruining the country give them a period of minum wage same as all the greedy ones stop these scandlous payouts they get paid a wage so why the need for bonus .. let them see what the rest of uk have to live on and try to make ends meet. about time they were all fetched back to the REAl world
Jonathan Goodwin-Self
The State pension in real terms is the lowest in the entire world. In most EU countries it is over £200 a week and it increases by a minimum of 5% a year. So I would like to see an MP live on £107 a week. Also if you live in any other country and then you move yo any other in the world it increases every year. Here it only does that unless you are in the EU or Somalia, Libya, Yemen, North Korea but noone lives there except EU but now taxes there will go to you
Bill Fleming
There are two options here, become an MP or go on the Social with the right advice from the scrounger society advice line. It's pointless trying to do this by hard work or honest means.
Michael Mcardle
well someones telling porkies bill because according to mps there are plenty of jobs available where people can earn a good living. while youre on bill could you please enlighten me as to how much money the majority of the scrounger brigade are recieving. for example a young person having just left school and despite their best efforts are unable to find a job. or a married couple with lets say one child in the same situation. it would be interesting to know if you know what youre talking about
Anthony Smith
Michael, if you want to know who's telling porkies just have a look what jobs are available on various websites (notably direct.gov etc.) then factor in your age, experience and qualifications and you will almost certainly find that you will not even get a reply to the hundreds of applications which you might make whilst you are a member of the 'scrounger brigade'. On further analysis you will find that an enormous number of 'jobs' are part time, minimum wage, 'self employed', commission only....and thousands upon thousands of 'ghost' jobs posted several times by dozens of recruitment agencies. In the meantime expect about 65 pounds a week for your efforts in return for having paid your tax and NI for the previous 35 years......but hey, that's just my experience!!!
Louisa Gieldon
I have two close relatives working with Jobcentre Plus. There are no jobs - go find someone who works there and ask them how successful they are in finding employment for people. The staff role has changed from finding jobs for claimants to imposing sanction targets to decrease benefit claimant numbers. These sanctions are often set ups, eg people with poor english being given written instructions they do not understand.
Anthony Smith
Louisa, I never saw it as the role of Jobcentre Plus staff to find me a job...and they certainly don't see it that way(!) Their role is merely 'policing' your job search...which anyone making a genuine effort to find work just doesn't need....fortunately I did find something, and income returned to circa 1995 levels..
Louisa Gieldon
I agree with you first post Anthony. However, you may not have needed help to find a job but some people do. My relatives are very helpful to their claimants and do their best for them. The good workers do their best to help people through the system. Personally the process is patronising and I never needed it either as I always found my own jobs. Some of their colleagues treat their clients in quite a shameful way. My relatives take pride in placing people in the right vacancies and trying to be helpful. At the moment there are just no jobs to be had.
Anthony Smith
Louisa, that's good to hear...(apart from the no jobs bit, of course!) There are loads of jobs posted though, but if you apply for them and your are, shall we say 'overqualified' then you just don't stand a chance. I managed to get myself a couple of positions over recent years by word of mouth, and both with previous employers. Both short term/temporary though, and at rather 'depleted' salaries....it's an employer's market after all, and boy are they cashing in on that one!!
Ron Taylor
married womans pension relying on husbands cotribution £67
Ron Taylor
the rich must be laughing their socks off.set the the working classes against one another and watch them bicker it takes the pressure off them. if we dont have money to spend we cant buy the services we provide so we all go down the pan because there will be less and less jobs for workers and we will all end up unemployed
Scott White
£37 grand ? Thats me screwed then
George Clement
The JRF foundation or any other foundation can come up with any figures that they come to during their research, the figures may or not be realistic, it doesn't matter one iota as the people who should be ensuring that we have better lifestyles when we are younger and more security in old age, the MPs, don't give t.o.s.s. about anybody but themselves. one of the contributers on this topic says she does the familly shop for £35 for her, her huband and one child. I wish she would show me how to do it, we are two pensioners and a dog and we spend more than that.
Louisa Gieldon
George, I agree. My sons use about £35 pounds a week on milk and cereal. My cat food bill is £15 a week. I wish she'd come round to me and show me how it's done, because I certainly couldn't feed us all on £35 a week. And i don't think i am materialistic or wasteful. I put the central heating off at the beginning of april and it doesn't go on again until late October. I have an eleven year old car. I've just had to retire ten years early through ill health and only have a very small pension. The cost of living really scares me
bobh_385
Change from the big supermarkets to Aldi,Lidl etc their prices are much lower.I also buy my meat in bulk from my local butcher so it works out cheaper and is better quality.Mind you I can't do it for £35 a week,nearer £60 and that is with growing my own fruit and veg
Louisa Gieldon
Yep. I use aldi and lidl and the like. Good for fruit, veggies, deli meats, cheese, wash powder. though even there the price differential isn't as great as it used to be between these stores and the other supermarkets. Still cannot get my head round a total of £35 for a weeks shop though.
bobh_385
I know Louisa,neither can I.Perhaps they're on egg n chips all week
Randy Dowdy
Here in the USA, we face the same thing! Wages have been driven down not only by the bad economy, but by illegal immigrants who undercut the working citizen by working "under the table" (without paying taxes). Even in construction, the wages are completely stagnant. Many turn to drugs (our gov't spends billions on pot prosecution each year), others see their dreams reduced to just living paycheck to paycheck. I'm still betting on the lotto, also called the "redneck retirement fund". Our gov't spend ALL our federal retirement money, known over here as "SOCIAL SECURITY". The working man/woman has no chance at all, even less if they have a family. But I love my country, and am not going to pull up roots and move abroad. I am a pipefitter in training, and see top fitters only make $15 per hour. It's heartbreaking.
bobh_385
Randy,I've just returned from a road trip to the USA and I've noticed a huge difference from 34 years ago when I did the last one.It seems that where I went America was a lot poorer than in 1978 as I didn't see any trailer parks then.Sadly the mom & pop diners are all gone and corporations have taken over,so no decent breakfasts anymore.Maybe thats the problem,corporations have taken the individuality away and made us all non thinking clones.Time to fight back?
Michael Hawkins
This depend what you class as basic living With the policy of our ancestors of putting a little away for a rainy day long dead - and many living well beyond their means on what was easy credit many are in trouble Our family lives well on 2/3 of the figure I have a 20 year old TV, 10 year old Mobile etc
Eric Coster
4:20am on 10/7/2012
Unlike China, this Gov can only Tax & Sack, with Bosses now getting the mentality of Hitler. The East is rising and the West is sliding into what, another war!