The financial burdens faced by families in the current cost-of-living crisis eased in September, a major supermarket chain has found.
Research compiled by Asda’s Income Tracker revealed that household disposable income was at its highest level last month since March 2022 at £224 per week. Overall, the amount households had to spend on themselves after paying taxes and essential bills in August was up by £14.27 a week, in comparison to the same period a year ago.
Wage growth boosts income
Strong wage growth was the main driver of the growth in disposable income. Falling annual inflation for the past three months has also eased the pressure on family finances, in the 12 months to August inflation was at 6.7%, a month-on-month decline of 0.1%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages being the largest contributors to the slowdown. However, the financial improvements are not being felt equally, as disposable income fell for 60% of UK households in August compared to the same time last year.
Lowest earners still struggling
The tracker did indicate that the lowest-earning households are still bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis, with a deficit of £72 in disposable income per week. As a result, essential spending is not being covered by take home pay for many.
In contrast, the highest earning households are enjoying further growth in their disposable incomes, rising by 4.8% annually in August to £790 per week.
With the cost-of-living crisis in mind, Asda has cut the prices on 425 of their products to help their customers in the current climate. The supermarket chain has also pledged to invest £23 million to lower prices on some of its most popular products bought by customers each week by an average of 11%, including bread, meat, and pasta.
This actions follows a £13 million investment in July to reduce prices on more than 200 own-label products by an average of 9%.
More than five million customers are now using Asda’s Rewards app, which provides customers with the chance to earn pounds rather than points, every time that a customer purchases certain products.
