UK: 80 percent of households saw disposable income fall

Leeds / UK. (asda) The vast majority of UK households were notably worse off in May, compared to the same period last year, as rising living costs continue to outstrip wage growth, according to the most recent «Asda Income Tracker». The tracker is dated June 26th.

The decrease in disposable income has been particularly stark for low-earning families, with 40 percent of UK households falling into negative income territory in May – meaning their take home pay does not cover spending on bills and essentials. The average shortfall for this households was GBP 42.50 per week in May.

In contrast, high-income households enjoyed a 2.1 percent rise in disposable income in May year-on-year to an average of GBP 754 per week. This is the second successive month of disposable income growth for these households, driven by strong increases in their gross income.

The tracker showed that family disposable income as a whole rose by GBP 1.85 per week in May to an average of GBP 207 per week, a 0.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

However, even with this increase family finances remain weak, as May’s figure of GBP 207 per week was the second lowest since October 2022. The strain on family disposable incomes is the result of elevated and persistent inflation in essential categories such as food and housing.

British Asda Group continues to support families during the cost-of-living crisis by keeping prices in check and launching new propositions to provide customers with more value each time they shop.

The supermarket recently announced it had locked the price of over 500 popular branded and own-label lines to give families more control and certainty over their shopping budgets.

And Asda’s hugely popular «Kids Eat for GBP 1» café meal deals will also continue until the end of the summer holidays. The supermarket launched the offer for kids under 16 to enjoy a hot meal in any of their 205 cafes in June 2022 and has now served 1’600’000 million meals to kids from its cafes nationwide.

The «Asda Income Tracker» is a measure of «disposable income» which measures the amount UK households have left to spend on discretionary purchases after paying taxes and essential bills (groceries, utility bills, transport costs, mortgage or rent payments) (Graphics: Asda Group).