The K Experience

I don't think so. I'm not sure where the Joseph Rowntree Foundation got their figures, but that seems ridiculous. Where are they expecting you live? 

First of all, I thought that the £13,400 figure was exclusive of housing and childcare, as it said in the note, it's the £157.84, single working age cost. This makes it,

£157.84 x 52 (weeks in the year) =  £8207.16, which gives just under £5000 for housing, whether it be rent or mortgage. That housing figure is nearly reasonable, but the JRF weren't just looking at the basic necessities of life such as food and shelter, but were looking wider:

"It is about having what you need in order to have the opportunities and choices necessary to participate in society," Joseph Rowntree Foundation

If that's the case then I feel the figure is grossly inaccurate. For one, they said that a car would not be required. But how can they miss that out. If you're living in London, or other big cities in the UK, then you may be able to rely on public transport. But if you don't, then you're left up the proverbial creek. Unless you are fortunate enough to find employment within walking distance from your home. So if we were going to include a vehicle, which a large proportion of the public would need in my opinion, then that would add road tax, insurance and maintenance, not forgetting the dreaded petrol price, which seems to be increasing at a ridiculous rate. This alone would add another £2000, and that's not including the price of the car, which let's assume may have been purchased a few years previous.

But then if you want to factor in choices necessary to participate in society, wouldn't that include savings? Paying your National Insurance should take care of minimum pension costs, provided you kept them up, but you wouldn't just be saving for that, something to leave behind for the children maybe, or just emergencies.

When I looked at the £13,400 figure I assumed that it didn't factor in accommodation, when I found out it did, I started to wonder what kind of "life" was being lived, and where. Take me for example, before I came to California, I was a trainee teacher living in Slough, earning a very decent wage (thanks to Teach First). In my first year as a trainee teacher, I was also employed by the school so I was on about £20,000. I lived with my parents, so didn't have to pay rent, I helped out so payed about £150 a month. I just bought a car for £2500 which I needed for work, as the school was in Feltham, west London, so had to pay that off. I should also add that the car allowed me to have choices necessary to participate in society (Charity work, my band, church, chauffeur). The only reason I was comfortable with that is because I lived with my folks. If I didn't, it wouldn't have been pretty.

I'm curious to hear from anyone else about this, especially those who are actually living on £13400 a year, and think they actually do have "what they need in order to have the opportunities and choices necessary to participate in society". 

[Source: BBC News Article: UK life costs 'at least' £13,400]

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