A 10% annual increase in take home pay has helped the north’s lowest earning households recover from the impact of the cost crisis, a new Consumer Council survey suggests.
The latest quarterly household expenditure tracker found the average after tax income for people in the lowest earning bracket in Northern Ireland stood at £279.38 per week in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.
That was 10.2% higher than the same quarter in 2023 (£253.46).
The Consumer Council’s research suggests it helped boost discretionary income among the lowest earners by 87.9% over the same period to £49.95 per week, up from just £26.58.
Discretionary income is classed as the money households have left after paying for the essentials.
But all households in the north are still worse off than they were three years ago, according to the figures.
The Consumer Council’s quarterly tracker, which breaks Northern Ireland households into four quartiles in terms of earning power, found all four had less discretionary income in Q2 2024 compared to Q1 2021.
The £49.95 weekly discretionary income for the lowest earning households, i.e. those in the bottom 25% of earners, was 22% (around £15) less than the start of 2021.
But households in the second quartile have been the hardest hit, with discretionary income down 37.2% from £155.04 to £97.43 per week over the same period.
Discretionary income for households in quartile three was down 10.7% from £320.96 per week in Q1 2021 to £286.63 in Q2 2024.
The survey found the highest earning 25% in the north have been the least impacted, with their discretionary income falling by just 5.4% in three years (around £40) to £690.10 per week.
The Consumer Council said the north’s highest earning households have on average almost 14 times more discretionary income left to spend every week compared to the lowest earning households.
“While our lowest earning households have seen a 20% rise in discretionary income over the last quarter, this equates to less than £10 per week for an average household (£8.22),” said Anne-Marie Murphy, director of strategy and emerging markets at the consumer body.
“Less than £10 per week doesn’t go very far when you are trying to feed a family or heat your home.
“Many Northern Ireland consumers remain vulnerable to price rises or unexpected costs with our latest pulse survey showing that nearly two-in-five (38%) of Northern Ireland’s consumers feel that their personal finances have had a negative impact on their mental health.”
In Q2 2024 (April to June), the lowest earning households in NI:
- Spent 50% of their total basic spending on food, rent, energy, and transport per week;
- had 6% less income before tax than the UK average;
- saw their discretionary income rise almost 20% over the last quarter from £41.73 to £49.95 per week;
- saw a rise of 4% in income after tax over the last quarter from £268.63 to £279.38 per week.
