Data Shows a huge Drop in UK Living Standards, Unless Your Rich

The state of living standards in the UK has been a hotly contested issue in the build-up to the country’s general election. The coalition government has argued that living standards have increased since it came to power in 2010. The Labour Party and other opposition parties claim that living standards have fallen.

In March 2015, the chancellor, George Osborne, presented evidence in his final budget that living standards have increased. However, this evidence is misleading. Research from a range of reputable academic studies has shown that average income has fallen over the past five years and poverty has increased.

The latest available data also clearly shows that the living standards of the UK population have fallen, particularly since the April 2013 cuts in social security and other austerity measures took effect. It is a shame that the coalition government was not prepared to release the latest statistical information on living standards to the public before the May 2015 election – but fortunately, it has recently become available via the European Union.

Early release data provided by the UK government to the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) shows that more people in the UK are now in financial difficulties and increasing numbers are unable to afford both the necessities of life (such as two pairs of shoes) and minor luxuries, such as a one-week holiday away from home. Both fuel poverty and utility bill arrears have also increased.

These are the stark conclusions of research colleagues and I at the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK research project have just completed, comparing the change in UK living standards between 2009 and 2013.

In 2009, 45% of people lived in households, which did not have sufficient money to pay an unexpected expense. By 2013 this had increased to almost half (49%) of the UK population. The figures also show that, for every single indicator of financial difficulty, more people were having problems in 2013 than in 2009.

It is clear that both serious and minor financial difficulties are increasing in the UK population, with more than a third of people in 2013 having difficulties in making ends meet and more than one in five people finding their housing costs a heavy burden.

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