- 21
- Feb
The basic cost of living expands far beyond interest rates, council taxes, and increasing utility bills. The cost of living is impacted by life choices and decisions consumers make.
One group of consumers who are hit hardest is divorced and single parents. This consumer group needs to survive without a dual income, but they also need to absorb the cost of the divorce. Norwich Union’s “Cost of Divorce” survey reveals that couples spend £28,000 to divorce, twice that of 2003.
Another cost that has increased dramatically is the cost of driving. The average car now costs £5,539 a year to run, equivalent to £15 a day. This is spurred by an increase in fuel costs. However, it is also increased by consumer’s desire for better automobiles.
Several reports published last year stated that new graduates are discouraged at the cost of living. Many claim that they will not be able to afford to buy a home, or start a family, for at least a decade because of their student loans.
The cost of raising a child from birth to 21 years old is £180,137, or £23.50 per day. The cost of raising a child rose 9 per cent last year alone, according to research from Liverpool Victoria.
Not all increases in the cost of living are necessity based. Britons are now spending more on eating in restaurants, pubs and on takeaway meals than on buying fresh and processed food and drink products to have at home. This has increased their food bills substantially.
The average wedding will now cost £19,595.This is a major blow for the 45 per cent of couples, approximately 117,000, who claim they have no financial planning to pay for their wedding, according to stockbrokers Brewin Dolphin Securities’ research.
