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The decrease in disposable income has been particularly evident for low-income families, with 40% of UK households in negative income last month, so their take home pay didn't cover spending on bills and essentials.
Families in Northern Ireland, the North East and the West Midlands struggled the most during the second quarter, when average weekly disposable incomes were at £95, £133 and £163 respectively, well below the UK average of £208 across the quarter to 30 June.
In addition to these regions, other areas of the UK that also saw a decline in disposable income during the quarter were the South East (excluding London), East of England and Wales.
Those regions faring worse than others during the cost-of-living crisis tend to be characterised by a greater concentration of spending on consumption categories that have seen high inflation recently. They also have lower employment rates or a higher concentration of employment in lower paid or low wage growth occupations than other parts of the UK.
In contrast, many families living in London fared better with rising living costs and have seen disposable incomes rise by 5.8% year-on-year to an average of £272 per week during the same period. A key factor behind this rise is the strong labour market and concentration of higher paying jobs in the capital city.
While family disposable income as a whole across the UK rose by £5.74 a week in June to an average of £210 per week, a 2.8% increase compared to the same period last year, rising living costs continue to outstrip wage growth for the majority of households that are outside our capital.
Asda continues to support families across the UK and last week announced it was cutting the prices of in excess of 200 own-label lines by an average of nine percent. Products include a host of fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen meat and fish products, cupboard staples and popular ready meal options.
Kris Comerford, who is Asda’s Chief Commercial Officer, commented: “We know families are continuing to feel the pinch financially, especially as they head toward the long summer holidays, and so they're looking for help to make their grocery budget stretch a bit further. Whenever there's a chance for Asda to help them make their money go further by lowering prices, we'll continue to do this.”
Asda's also extended its massively popular ‘Kids Eat for £1’ café meal offer until the end of the year. Since launching this initiative last July, Asda has served 2 million meals from its cafes and invested £1.3m subsidising the offer to keep the meal prices at £1.
Asda recently added a selection of half priced adult meals to the menu, thus giving a family of four the chance to enjoy a meal in any Asda café for as little as £8.50 in total.