Fifth of UK households now have ‘negative disposable income’

One in five had average weekly shortfall of 60 between earnings and money needed to cover essentials including rent, data shows

A fifth of UK households now have an average shortfall of 60 a week between what they earn and what they need to cover essentials such as energy bills, rent, transport and food, as the rising cost of living leaves people with the lowest amount of spare cash in almost five years.

Soaring living costs, up 11% year on year in June, led to a record 18% drop in average household disposable income of 175.80 a month, according to data from the Asda Income Tracker collated by the Centre for Business and Economic Research (Cber).