It turns out that expensive housing outweighs cheap food, drink and communications (e.g. internet and phone bills) to make the UK an especially pricey place for poorer households. This matters when comparing incomes here and abroad. - ThreadSky

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simonpittaway.bsky.social • 52 days ago

It turns out that expensive housing outweighs cheap food, drink and communications (e.g. internet and phone bills) to make the UK an especially pricey place for poorer households.

This matters when comparing incomes here and abroad.

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simonpittaway.bsky.social•52 days ago

Even with an aggregate PPP adjustment, there are big income gaps between poorer UK households and their counterparts in Western Europe. But if we use an income-specific PPP (i.e. weighting prices based on low- and middle-income spending baskets) these gaps widen further.

simonpittaway.bsky.social•52 days ago

For example, adjusting for the local cost of things that lower-income families spend money on, the 10th-percentile German household is £2,300 richer than its British equivalent. That gap is a third (34 per cent) larger than that implied by an aggregate price level adjustment.

simonpittaway.bsky.social•52 days ago

It’s a bit of a dead horse at this point, but these wider gaps between the UK and elsewhere are another reminder that our housing problem really is uniquely bad. It's good to see the Government taking this seriously – although action now needs to follow words.

simonpittaway.bsky.social•52 days ago

This is all covered in a new paper from me and RF Research Trainee Zaynah Janan. Check out the link below for all the details.

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/whose-price-is-it-anyway/

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