Household bills and housing costs top family expenditure list
11/12/2013
This means that the cost of living at home has now overtaken that of travelling; with families now spending an average of £68 per week on essential household bills.
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal the extent to which the cost of living has risen for families, with the amount of income spent on fuel and power up 8% from 2008 alone.
There is also a sizeable difference between the Family Spend figures for the north and the south, with those in London spending a weekly average of £571.60 compared to the £408.70 spent by those in the north-east.
However the ONS has also said that, once inflation is taken into account, households are spending less each week than they were in 2006.
The cost-of-living crisis has caused much political debate recently, with Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls claiming that chancellor George Osborne is “in denial” over the effects of increasing inflation and largely stagnant wages within the UK.
Shadow energy secretary, Caroline Flint had this to say: “These figures reveal the full scale of the cost-of-living crisis facing households in Britain. Soaring energy bills are one of the main reasons people are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet, but David Cameron has failed to stand up to the energy companies and stop them overcharging.
“This shows why Labour’s energy price freeze is needed. Labour’s price freeze would save money for 27m households and 2.4m businesses and our plans to reset the market will deliver fairer prices in the future”.
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