Lowest-earning NI households left with only £42 per week after paying for essentials | Newry News

The Consumer Council has released the latest Northern Ireland Household Expenditure Tracker for Quarter 1 2024 (January to March), which tracks changes to income and expenditure for households in Northern Ireland across four income groups (quartiles).

The Northern Ireland Household Expenditure Tracker found that Northern Ireland’s lowest-earning households have seen their discretionary income fall by over 35% since the first quarter of 2021, leaving them with less than £42 per week on average after paying for essentials.

In Quarter 1 2024 (January to March), on average, these households:

    spent 52% of their total basic spending on food, rent, energy, and transport

    have 7% less income before tax than the UK average

    saw their discretionary income rise 14% over the last quarter from £36.65 to £41.73 per week

    saw a rise of 2% in income after tax

The ability of households in Northern Ireland to absorb unexpected bills or price rises differs sharply depending on household income. Northern Ireland’s highest-earning households have, on average, almost 16 times more discretionary income left to spend every week compared to the lowest-earning households.

Anne-Marie Murphy, Director of Strategy & Emerging Markets at the Consumer Council, says, “The lowest-earning households have seen a small rise in discretionary income over the last quarter, but this is a decrease of over a third since the beginning of the cost of living crisis.

“Despite a small decrease in energy costs, food continues to form a disproportionate share of the lowest earning households’ spending, compared to higher earning households.

“Food costs represent 22% of their weekly essential spending compared to 16% for the highest earning households.

“This expanded Household Expenditure Tracker considers all Northern Ireland households and shows that half of those households have, on average, less than £93 per week after all essential bills are paid.

“It is concerning how little money many families have left to cover unexpected bills or price rises.

“Our latest research also shows that nearly two in five (39%) of Northern Ireland’s consumers feel that their personal finances have had a negative impact on their mental health.

“To help consumers, the Consumer Council offers a variety of support and advice, including interactive tools to compare energy costs and advice on how to reduce your bills and make your money go further at www.consumercouncil.org.uk.”

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Posted by NewryTimes News on Aug 28 2024. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry