UK households are being driven further into debt by the rising cost of living, a new, decade-long study has shown. An estimated one million people on low incomes are now in arrears after paying for the basic essentials.
The findings are set out in the report Pushed Under, Pushed Out, published by Christians Against Poverty (CAP) on Tuesday. It is based on research carried out by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, which analysed information on household finances from the Office for National Statistics — more than 35,000 individuals in more than 17,000 households. People were interviewed every two years from 2010 to 2020.
The study tracks levels of debt in this period, analysing how the use of credit to pay for essentials had tipped people below the Minimum Income Standard. This is the widely used benchmark of an acceptable living standard, updated each year.
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UK households are being driven further into debt by the rising cost of living, a new, decade-long study has shown. An estimated one million people on low incomes are now in arrears after paying for the basic essentials https://t.co/2edfs9iPSW
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 12, 2024