UK. Cost of living pressures affect people on welfare more than anyone
The release of the latest cost of living indexes shows that for all types of households the cost of living continues to grow well below long-term averages. But in September the impact of electricity price rises most affected aged pensioner and other government beneficiary households. For these households, who have mostly missed out on the benefits of falling interest rates, it means that they remain the most affected by cost of living pressures.
Unlike the consumer price index, which provides an estimate of average price increases for all Australian households, the quarterly cost of living index acknowledges that different households have different spending needs.
While the CPI does differentiate between households in each capital city, the reality is the spending patterns of household with two working adults with two kids varies little regardless of where you live. But the spending patterns of that household would be greatly different to that of two aged pensioners living together – even if they lived right next door to the family of four.
Read the full OpEd in The Guardian
