Real household disposable income per person in the United Kingdom is expected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2024/25, with disposable income growth slowing from that point onwards. In 2022/23, disposable income fell by two percent, the biggest fall in living standards since 1956 when this type of data was first produced.

People in Great Britain's experiences of and actions following increases in their costs of living, and how these differed by a range of personal characteristics.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Background:
A household food consumption and expenditure survey has been conducted each year in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) since 1940. At that time the National Food Survey (NFS) covered a sample drawn solely from urban working-class households, but this was extended to a fully demographically representative sample in 1950. From 1957 onwards the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) provided information on all household expenditure patterns including food expenditure, with the NFS providing more detailed information on food consumption and expenditure. The NFS was extended to cover Northern Ireland from 1996 onwards. In April 2001 these surveys were combined to form the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS), which completely replaced both series. From January 2008, the EFS became known as the Living Costs and Food (LCF) module of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS). As a consequence of this change, the questionnaire was altered to accommodate the insertion of a core set of questions, common to all of the separate modules which together comprised the IHS. Some of these core questions are simply questions which were previously asked in the same or a similar format on all of the IHS component surveys. For further information on the LCF questionnaire, see Volume A of the LCF 2008 User Guide, held with SN 6385. Further information about the LCF, including links to published reports based on the survey, may be found by searching for 'Living Costs and Food Survey' on the ONS website. Further information on the NFS and Living Costs and Food Module of the IHS can be found by searching for 'Family Food' on the GOV.UK website.

History:
The LCF (then EFS) was the result of more than two years' development work to bring together the FES and NFS; both survey series were well-established and important sources of information for government and the wider community, and had charted changes and patterns in spending and food consumption since the 1950s. Whilst the NFS and FES series are now finished, users should note that previous data from both series are still available from the UK Data Archive, under GNs 33071 (NFS) and 33057 (FES).

Purpose of the LCF
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has overall project management and financial responsibility for the LCF, while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sponsors the food data element. As with the FES and NFS, the LCF continues to be primarily used to provide information for the Retail Prices Index, National Accounts estimates of household expenditure, analysis of the effect of taxes and benefits, and trends in nutrition. The results are multi-purpose, however, providing an invaluable supply of economic and social data. The merger of the two surveys also brings benefits for users, as a single survey on food expenditure removes the difficulties of reconciling data from two sources.

Design and methodology The design of the LCF is based on the old FES, although the use of new processing software by the data creators has resulted in a dataset which differs from the previous structure. The most significant change in terms of reporting expenditure, however, is the introduction of the European Standard Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP), in place of the codes previously used. An additional level of hierarchy has been developed to improve the mapping to the previous codes. The LCF was conducted on a financial year basis from 2001, then moved to a calendar year basis from January 2006 (to complement the IHS) until 2015-16, when the financial year survey was reinstated at the request of users. Therefore, whilst SN 5688 covers April 2005 - March 2006, SN 5986 covers January-December 2006. Subsequent years cover January-December until 2014. SN 8210 returns to the financial year survey and currently covers April 2015 - March 2016.

Northern Ireland sample
Users should note that, due to funding constraints, from January 2010 the Northern Ireland (NI) sample used for the LCF was reduced to a sample proportionate to the NI population relative to the UK.

Family Food database:
'Family Food' is an annual publication which provides detailed statistical information on purchased quantities, expenditure and nutrient intakes derived from both household and eating out food and drink. Data is collected for a sample of households in the United Kingdom using self-reported diaries of all purchases, including food eaten out, over a two week period. Where possible quantities are recorded in the diaries but otherwise estimated. Energy and nutrient intakes are calculated using standard nutrient composition data for each of some 500 types of food. Current estimates are based on data collected in the Family Food...

This statistics shows the opinions of different age groups on their generation's standard of living in the United Kingdom (UK) as of 2016. The graph shows that the peak age group which considers their generation as having a better life than their parents is the pre-war generation (70 years and older). As the age of respondents decreases so too does the percentages of respondents’ positive perception of their life. The youngest generation surveyed (Generation Y) felt the least positive about the prospect of a better life than the previous generations.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This project investigated the roles of the welfare state, education, reductions in family size, and improvements in real wages in the elimination of poverty in Britain, 1904-54. The key national data sets for this analysis are household expenditure surveys for 1904, 1937/8 and 1953/4. The 1953/4 survey is the largest of the twentieth century (12,900 households) and survives in its entirety at The National Archives. It was carried out before the affluence of the Golden Age had been widely distributed. Abel-Smith and Townsend used some of this survey for their The Poor and the Poorest (1965), which was influential in setting the social policy agenda of the 1960s. The project digitised the 1953/4 survey and exploited these early twentieth century surveys to analyse poverty, nutrition and overcrowding among working households in Britain. A web-based centre on living standards provides information on the changing economic circumstances of households. It also allows access to the data, which have a number of other important long-term potential uses for social research.

The European Quality of Life survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives, and how they feel about those circumstances, and their lives in general. It looks at a range of issues, such as employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work-life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness, how satisfied they are with their lives, and how they perceive the quality of their societies.

The survey is carried out every four years.The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) commissioned GfK EU3C to carry out the survey.

The survey was carried in the 27 European Member States (EU27), and the survey was also implemented in seven non-EU countries. The survey covers residents aged 18 and over.

A selection of key findings from the 2010/11 data released in July 2013 are presented in this briefing: The socio-economic position of Londoners in Europe: An analysis of the 2011 European Quality of Life Survey.

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For the purposes of the rankings in this report, London is treated as a 35th European country.The themes covered in the analysis below are: volunteering, community relations, trust in society, public services ratings, well-being, health, wealth and poverty, housing, and skills and employment.

The tables following the analysis on page 4 show figures and rankings for:

- London,

- rest of the UK,

- Europe average,

- the highest ranked country, and

- the lowest ranked country.

Internet use data for all European NUTS1 areas included in spreadsheet. Note figures based on low sample sizes marked in pink.

The UK inflation rate was three percent in January 2025, up from 2.5 percent in the previous month, and the fastest rate of inflation since March 2024. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. Due to this long period of high inflation, UK consumer prices have increased by over 20 percent in the last three years. As of the most recent month, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, but were falling in both the furniture and transport sectors, at -0.3 percent and -0.6 percent respectively.
The Cost of Living Crisis High inflation is one of the main factors behind the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis in the UK, which, despite subsiding somewhat in 2024, is still impacting households going into 2025. In December 2024, for example, 56 percent of UK households reported their cost of living was increasing compared with the previous month, up from 45 percent in July, but far lower than at the height of the crisis in 2022. After global energy prices spiraled that year, the UK's energy price cap increased substantially. The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge consumers, reached 3,549 British pounds per year in October 2022, compared with 1,277 pounds a year earlier. Along with soaring food costs, high-energy bills have hit UK households hard, especially lower income ones that spend more of their earnings on housing costs. As a result of these factors, UK households experienced their biggest fall in living standards in decades in 2022/23. Global inflation crisis causes rapid surge in prices The UK's high inflation, and cost of living crisis in 2022 had its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the initial waves of the virus, global supply chains struggled to meet the renewed demand for goods and services. Food and energy prices, which were already high, increased further in 2022. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an end to the era of cheap gas flowing to European markets from Russia. The war also disrupted global food markets, as both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of cereal crops. As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom project is the largest research project of its kind ever carried out in the UK. It examines levels of deprivation in the UK today. The research aims to answer the following questions:

• What are the best methods for measuring poverty, deprivation, social exclusion and standard of living?
• How are the different dimensions of poverty, deprivation and social exclusion related?
• What is the current extent and nature of poverty and how has it changed?
• What policies best address these problems?

Launched in May 2010, the project comprises four main pieces of research so far:

• Firstly, two major surveys into the public's perceptions of necessities and into living standards were carried out in 2012/13: an attitudinal UK Omnibus survey, gathering the public's perceptions of necessities and attitudes to services (held under SN 7878); and a large-scale survey of living standards to examine the nature, extent and causes of deprivation and social exclusion (SN 7879).
• In addition, two qualitative research studies have been undertaken: an investigation into the experiences of living on low income during recession in Gloucestershire, the West Midlands and Strathclyde (SN 7877); and an exploration of the role of the family when coping with poverty in Northern Ireland.

Further information about the project may be found on the Poverty and Social Exclusion project website.


Focus group interviews were conducted between November and December 2010 in five different locations, including in each of the four territories comprising the UK: Bristol, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Belfast. Separate group interviews were conducted amongst low income samples (5 groups), non-low income samples (5 groups), and mixed income samples (4 groups). These groups were also stratified by household type (11 groups) and minority ethnic status (3 groups).

This statistic shows the estimated minimum outgoings required to live in London, United Kingdom (UK) for six months in 2014. The cost of rent is estimated to be, at its lowest, 2,784 British pounds over the six month period, with bills at 1,199 British pounds. It is worth noting that the estimated rent is for a shared property.

Characteristics of sampled households in the Living Costs and Food Survey.

In 2022/23 the median annual household disposable income in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 31,817 British pounds. Between 1994/95 and 2007/08 the average household disposable income showed year-on-year increases, but after this point, income levels began to stagnate and even decline in some years. Although average household disposable resumed a steady growth pattern between 2012/13 and 2016/17, it has fluctuated in more recent years, and declined in the most recent two years. Economic shocks and disposable income The steady growth of disposable income from 1994 to 2008 reflected the generally healthy UK economy in that period. After the global financial crisis, however, the UK economy was plunged into a deep recession that is mirrored by a decline in disposable income. Although there was a period of recovery between 2013 and 2016, the UK economy has suffered a series of economic shocks since that point. The Brexit Referendum of 2016, and the subsequent economic and political fallout, was followed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and in more recent years by the Inflation Crisis and Ukraine War. Living costs putting UK households under pressure Between January and April 2022, the share of people reporting an increase in their living costs compared with the previous month rose from 66 percent to 91 percent. This corresponded with significant price increases at that time, with CPI inflation surging from 0.4 percent in February 2021 to a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent by October 2022. Although inflation did gradually start to decline in the following months, it wasn't until July 2023 that wages caught up with inflation. The surge in energy and food prices that caused this high inflation, was devastating for UK households, leading to the worst Cost of Living Crisis for decades.

Average weekly household expenditure on goods and services in the UK. Data are shown by region, age, income (including equivalised) group (deciles and quintiles), economic status, socio-economic class, housing tenure, output area classification, urban and rural areas (Great Britain only), place of purchase and household composition.

In January 2025, the Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) inflation rate of the United Kingdom was 3.9 percent, unchanged from the previous month. The inflation rate fell noticeably after the COVID-19 pandemic, but rose sharply between Spring 2021 and Autumn 2022. After peaking at 9.6 percent in October 2022, CPIH inflation declined throughout 2023 and into 2024, falling to 2.6 percent by September of that year, before increasing again in recent months. Cost of living problems persist into 2025 Although it is likely that the worst of the recent inflation surge may have passed, the issues caused by it look set to linger into 2025 and beyond. While the share of households experiencing living cost rises has fallen from 91 percent in August 2022, to 45 percent in July 2024, this share rose towards the end of the year, with more than half of households reporting rising costs in December. Even with lower inflation, overall consumer prices have already increased by around 20 percent in the last three years, rising to almost 30 percent for food prices, which lower income households typically spend more of their income on. The significant increase in people relying on food banks across the UK, is evidence of the magnitude of this problem, with approximately 3.12 million people using food banks in 2023/24. Other measure of inflation While the CPIH inflation rate displayed here is the preferred index of the UK's Office of National Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is often more prominently featured in the media in general. An older index, the Retail Price Index (RPI) is also still used by the government to calculate certain taxes, and rail fare rises. Other metrics include the core inflation rate, which measures prices increases without the volatility of food and energy costs, while price increases in goods and services can also be tracked separately. The inflation rate of individual sectors can also be measured, and as of December 2024, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, with costs falling in the transport and furniture sectors.

The economy of the United Kingdom shrank by 0.1 percent in January 2025, after growing by 0.4 percent in December. As of the most recent month, the UK economy is around 3.4 percent larger than it was in February 2020, just before the start of COVID-19 lockdowns. After a record 19.6 percent decline in GDP in April 2020, the UK economy quickly returned to growth in the following months, and grew through most of 2021. Cost of living crisis lingers into 2025 As of December 2024, just over half of people in the UK reported that their cost of living was higher than it was in the previous month. Although this is a decline from the peak of the crisis in 2022 when over 90 percent of people reported a higher cost of living, households are evidently still under severe pressure. While wage growth has outpaced inflation since July 2023, overall consumer prices were 20 percent higher in late 2024 than they were in late 2021. For food and energy, which lower income households spend more on, late 2024 prices were almost 30 percent higher when compared with late 2021. According to recent estimates, living standards, as measured by changes in disposable income fell by 2.1 percent in 2022/23, but did start to grow again in 2023/24. Late 2023 recession followed by growth in 2024 In December 2023, the UK economy was approximately the same size as it was a year earlier, and struggled to achieve modest growth throughout that year. Going into 2023, a surge in energy costs, as well as high interest rates, created an unfavorable environment for UK consumers and businesses. The inflationary pressures that drove these problems did start to subside, however, with inflation falling to 3.9 percent in November 2023, down from a peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022. Although relatively strong economic growth occurred in the first half of 2024, with GDP growing by 0.7 percent, and 0.4 percent in the first two quarters of the year, zero growth was reported in the third quarter of the year. Long-term issues, such as low business investment, weak productivity growth, and regional inequality, will likely continue to hamper the economy going forward.

In May 2022, 67 percent of people in the United Kingdom thought that Brexit had made their cost of living higher, compared with five percent who said it had made it lower. High inflation has caused an ecnomic crisis in the UK, with 87 percent of people reporting an increase in their cost of living as of March 2022.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The Millennium Survey of Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE) was designed to update the Breadline Britain Surveys which were conducted by Mori in 1983 and 1990 (see also Gordon et al, Breadline Britain in the 1990s). Firstly, a representative sample of the population of Great Britain was asked for their views on what constitutes the necessities of life in present day Britain. This was done in June 1999 using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Omnibus Survey. Secondly, a specially selected sample was drawn from respondents to the 1998/99 General Household Survey, and interviewed in detail about their circumstances and their views on a range of issues associated with poverty and social exclusion. This dataset is associated with the second aspect of the survey; the follow-up to the GHS, referred to as PSE. The aims of the PSE survey were: To update the Breadline Britain Surveys; To estimate the size of groups of households in different circumstances; To explore movement in and out of poverty; To look at age and gender difference in experiences of and responses to poverty. It is planned that a similar survey will be carried out in other countries. Main Topics: The main topics covered include housing, health, time poverty, social networks and support, necessities, finance and debts, intra-household poverty, poverty over time, absolute and overall poverty, area deprivation, local services, crime, child's school, perceptions of poverty, activism as well as some demographics and information on income. A Kish Grid was used (see documentation for further information) Face-to-face interview Compilation or synthesis of existing material The face-to-face interviewing was done using CAPI and the interview included a card-sorting exercise. A Computer Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI) module was used to collect answers to sensitive questions, such as those on crime. Where the respondent was reluctant or unable to complete the self-completion section on the laptop the interviewer asked the respondent's permission to ask these questions. Some data were also obtained for this study from the General Household Survey. 1999 ADOPTED CHILDREN ADULTS AGE ALCOHOL USE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS APARTMENTS APPRENTICESHIP ATTITUDES BANK ACCOUNTS BASIC NEEDS BATHROOMS BEDROOMS BONUS PAYMENTS BUILDING MAINTENANCE BUILDING SOCIETY AC... BUSINESSES CARE OF DEPENDANTS CARE OF THE DISABLED CARE OF THE ELDERLY CENTRAL HEATING CEREMONIES CHILD BENEFITS CHILD CARE CHILD DAY CARE CHILDREN CHIROPODY CHRONIC ILLNESS CLEANING CLOTHING COHABITATION COLOUR TELEVISION R... COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS COMPACT DISC PLAYERS COMPANY CARS COMPUTERS CONSUMER GOODS CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES COOKING COSTS CRIME AND SECURITY DEBTS DENTISTS DEPRESSION DISABILITIES DISABLED PERSONS DISTANCE LEARNING DIVORCE DOMESTIC APPLIANCES DOMESTIC RESPONSIBI... ECONOMIC ACTIVITY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND EDUCATIONAL COURSES EDUCATIONAL INSTITU... ELDERLY ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY EMPLOYEES EMPLOYERS EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY ETHNIC GROUPS EXAMINATIONS EXPECTATION Equality FAMILIES FAMILY MEMBERS FATHER S PLACE OF B... FERTILITY FINANCIAL RESOURCES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOOD FOOD AND NUTRITION FOSSIL FUELS FOSTER CHILDREN FRIENDS FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT FURNISHED ACCOMMODA... FURTHER EDUCATION GAS SUPPLY GENDER GENERAL PRACTITIONERS Great Britain HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD HEALTH HEALTH CONSULTATIONS HEALTH SERVICES HEALTH VISITORS HEARING HEARING AIDS HEARING IMPAIRMENTS HEATING SYSTEMS HIGHER EDUCATION HOBBIES HOLIDAYS HOME BUYING HOME HELP HOME OWNERSHIP HOME SHARING HOME VISITS HOSPITAL OUTPATIENT... HOSPITAL SERVICES HOSPITALIZATION HOURS OF WORK HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS HOUSEHOLDS HOUSES HOUSEWORK HOUSING HOUSING AGE HOUSING FACILITIES HOUSING TENURE INCOME INSURANCE INTEREST FINANCE INTERNET INVESTMENT JOB HUNTING KITCHENS LANDLORDS LEISURE TIME ACTIVI... LOANS MANAGERS MARITAL HISTORY MARITAL STATUS MARRIAGE MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION MATERNITY PATIENTS MEALS ON WHEELS MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS MOBILE HOMES MORTGAGES MOTHER S PLACE OF B... MOTOR VEHICLES NEIGHBOURS NURSES OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS OCCUPATIONAL QUALIF... OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING OCCUPATIONS ONE PARENT FAMILIES OPTICIANS OVERTIME PARENTS PART TIME COURSES PART TIME EMPLOYMENT PATIENTS PENSIONS PERSONAL DEBT REPAY... PERSONAL HYGIENE PHYSICIANS PLACE OF BIRTH POLICE SERVICES POVERTY PREGNANCY PRIVATE PERSONAL PE... PRIVATE SECTOR PROFESSIONAL CONSUL... PUBLIC HOUSES PUBLIC TRANSPORT QUALIFICATIONS REDUNDANCY PAY RENTED ACCOMMODATION RENTS RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY RETIREMENT ROOM SHARING ROOMS SANDWICH COURSES SATELLITE RECEIVERS SAVINGS SCHOOL LEAVING AGE SELF EMPLOYED SHARED HOME OWNERSHIP SHELTERED HOUSING SHOPPING SIBLINGS SICK PERSONS SMOKING SMOKING CESSATION SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE SOCIAL EXCLUSION SOCIAL HOUSING SOCIAL SECURITY BEN... SOCIAL SECURITY CON... SOCIAL SUPPORT SOCIAL WORKERS SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS SPORT SPOUSES STANDARD OF LIVING STATE RETIREMENT PE... STEPCHILDREN STERILIZATION MEDICAL STUDENTS SUBSIDIARY EMPLOYMENT SUPERVISORS Social behaviour an... Social conditions a... Specific social ser... TELEPHONES TELEVISION CHANNELS TELEVISION RECEIVERS TIED HOUSING TOBACCO TRAINING COURSES UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYMENT UNFURNISHED ACCOMMO... UNWAGED WORKERS VACANT HOUSING VIDEO RECORDERS VISION IMPAIRMENTS VISITS PERSONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATIO... WAGES WALKING WATER SUPPLY WIDOWED inequality and soci...

Average weekly earnings for the whole economy, for total and regular pay, in real terms (adjusted for consumer price inflation), UK, monthly, seasonally adjusted.