Four in 10 Londoners can’t afford ‘decent standard of living’

A new report claims that 41% of Londoners cannot afford a basic decent standard of living.

The figures, published on Wednesday (March 6), are based on the Minimum Income Standard (MIS), which is the income that people need in order to achieve a minimum ‘socially acceptable’ standard of living in the UK today, and is set by Loughborough’s Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP).

Three-quarters of Londoners within incomes below MIS are living in rented accommodation, 1.3 million in the private rented sector and 1.4 million in social housing.

The report also painted a worrying picture for London’s young people, with researchers finding that half are from households which fall below this threshold.

For the rest of the UK, 29% of people do not meet the criteria of the same minimum living standard.

To calculate the MIS, researchers bring together groups of people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, asking questions about their budget to check whether the food, goods and services they are buying meet basic criteria on things like nutrition.

Consensus must then be reached between the group on what ‘socially acceptable’ is defined as for each item or service.

Their report provides an updated cost of a minimum budget required for a minimum standard of living in Inner and Outer London, including rental costs, public transport, childcare costs and wages.

Researcher Matt Padley, of CRSP, said: ‘This new research in London, looking at what the public think is needed for a minimum socially acceptable standard of living, reinforces what we have found in our previous research in the capital – principally, that much of life in London is very similar to life in other urban areas of the UK.

‘Many everyday needs are the same, but in some key areas substantial differences in the cost of a minimum living standard persist.

‘This is particularly true when it comes to housing and childcare, both of which really increase the amount that households need to reach this minimum.

‘These higher costs mean that around 40% of Londoners don’t have what they need for a minimum, and that more than half of all children living in the capital are growing up in households who are likely to face difficult decisions about prioritising resources.

‘Rising rents and childcare costs, as well as cuts in support, are making meeting a decent living standard far more of a challenge.

‘Unless something is done to make housing in the capital genuinely affordable for all, to reduce the cost of good quality childcare and to halt the planned welfare cuts, it is likely that more and more households will not have what they need to meet their minimum needs.’

Read the report here.