THE NORTH'S lowest earning households have seen their disposable income drop by almost 50 per cent in the past year, leaving them with less than £25 per week to spend after bills and living expenses.
The figures from the Consumer Council have prompted calls for "targeted solutions and interventions".
The consumer organisation's quarterly Northern Ireland Household Expenditure Tracker, which provides data on income and expenditure for the region's lowest earning households, shows that their weekly discretionary income has fallen from £45.32 to £24.41 since last year – a drop of 46.1 per cent.
The research reveals that in Q2 2022 – April, May and June – the lowest earning households saw their weekly income after tax rise by £2.80 – or 1.2 per cent.
However, this was offset by an average £7.25 – or 3.6 per cent – increase in weekly spending on basic goods, while total basic spending on rent, energy, food and transport soared by 53 per cent.
The Consumer Council said it was the fifth consecutive quarter in which discretionary income had fallen.
Noyona Chundur, the organisation's chief executive, said: “Our Household Expenditure Tracker quantifies the reality that our lowest earning households are currently facing. The lowest earning households in Northern Ireland now have less than £25 to spend per week after their bills and living costs.
"In releasing this data, we hope that it will help government, policy makers, and organisations to develop targeted solutions and interventions to help all consumers in Northern Ireland."
SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole MLA said the poorest households were being hit "hardest and most often by staggering increases in the cost of food and fuel".
"No one and no family should be forced to make ends meet with barely more than a £20 note at the end of every week, it’s a damning indictment of the failure to really address the impact of poverty which affects people in and out of work," he said.
“People across our communities need help and they need hope."
He said his party had proposed "increasing the scope of the windfall tax on oil and gas profits" to fund further support for vulnerable households.
