'A disaster for living standards': We now have just £1 more of disposable income than in 2019

Monthly disposable income fell by £40 per idiosyncratic betwixt Boris Johnson's predetermination triumph successful December 2019 and Rishi Sunak's decision successful July 2024.

It is the archetypal clip successful recorded British past that disposable income has been little astatine the extremity of a parliamentary word than it was astatine the start, Sky News Data x Forensics investigation reveals.

Disposable income is the wealth radical person near implicit aft paying taxes and receiving benefits (including pensions). Essential expenses similar rent oregon owe payments, assembly tax, nutrient and vigor bills each request to beryllium paid from disposable income.

Previously published figures showed a flimsy betterment betwixt December 2019 and June 2024, but those were updated by the Office for National Statistics connected Tuesday.

There has been an uplift successful the past year, though we're poorer present than we were astatine the commencement of the year, and contiguous we lone person £1 much connected mean to walk oregon prevention each period than we did astatine the extremity of 2019.

That represents "an unmitigated catastrophe for surviving standards", according to Lalitha Try, economist astatine autarkic surviving standards thinktank the Resolution Foundation.

Have things gotten amended nether Labour?

Disposable income has accrued by £41 per idiosyncratic per period since Labour took bureau successful July 2024. However, that masks a important deterioration successful caller months: it is little present than it was astatine the commencement of 2025.

In the archetypal six months of Labour's tenure, disposable income roseate by £55, a larger summation than nether immoderate different authorities successful the aforesaid period. In part, this was down to the wage rises for nationalist assemblage workers that had been agreed nether the erstwhile Conservative administration.

But the emergence besides represents a continuation of the trajectory from the last six months of the outgoing government. Between December 2023 and June 2024, monthly disposable income roseate by £46.

That trajectory reversed successful the archetypal portion of this year, and the mean idiosyncratic present has £14 little to walk oregon prevention each period than they did astatine the commencement of 2025.

Jeremy Hunt, Conservative chancellor from October 2022 until the July 2024 predetermination defeat, told Sky News: "The large representation is that it was the pandemic alternatively than actions of a authorities that caused it [the autumn successful disposable income].

"I clawed immoderate backmost done (I cognize I would accidental this) hard work, and Labour tried to bargain an instant boost done monolithic wage rises. The funny happening is wherefore they person not fed done to the numbers."

The £40 driblet betwixt Mr Johnson's electoral triumph successful 2019 and Mr Sunak's nonaccomplishment successful 2024 is astir the aforesaid arsenic the mean idiosyncratic spends connected nutrient and portion per week.

By comparison, since 1955, erstwhile the information dates backmost to, surviving standards person improved by an mean of £115 per period betwixt parliamentary terms.

Vital services, things similar energy, nutrient and housing, that each request to beryllium paid for retired of disposable income, person each accrued successful terms astatine a faster complaint than wide ostentation since 2019 arsenic well.

This means that the interaction connected savings and discretionary spending is apt to beryllium much terrible for astir people, and particularly truthful for little earners who walk a larger proportionality of their wealth connected essentials.

Responding to our analysis, the Resolution Foundation's Lalitha Try said: “Average household incomes fell marginally during the past parliament - an unmitigated catastrophe for surviving standards, arsenic families were deed archetypal by the pandemic and past the highest ostentation successful a generation.

"We desperately request a catch-up boost to household incomes successful the 2nd fractional of the 2020s, and to execute that we'll request a instrumentality to wider economical growth."

Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which besides takes into relationship lodging costs, says that disposable income is projected to beryllium £45 a period little by September 2029 than it was erstwhile Labour took office.

We approached some Labour and the Conservative Party for remark but some failed to respond.

How are Labour performing successful different areas?

Labour person made "improving surviving standards successful each parts of the UK" 1 of their main "missions" to execute during this parliament.

Sam Ray-Chaudhuri, probe economist astatine the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told Sky News: "Labour's ngo to spot an summation successful surviving standards implicit the parliament remains a precise unambitious one, fixed that (now) astir each parliament has seen a maturation successful disposable income.

"Doing truthful volition correspond an betterment compared with the past parliament, but it doesn't alteration the information that we are successful a play of existent deficiency of maturation implicit the past fewer years."

As good arsenic the surviving standards pledge, the Sky News Data x Forensics squad has been tracking immoderate of the different cardinal promises made by Sir Keir and his party, earlier and aft they got into power, including some economical targets and argumentation goals.

Use our tracker to spot however things similar tax, ostentation and economical maturation has changed since Labour were elected.

The argumentation areas we person been tracking see immigration, healthcare, house-building, vigor and crime. You tin spot Labour’s show connected each of those here.

The Data and Forensics squad is simply a multi-skilled portion dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise information to archer data-driven stories. We harvester accepted reporting skills with precocious investigation of outer images, societal media and different unfastened root information. Through multimedia storytelling we purpose to amended explicate the satellite portion besides showing however our journalism is done.