Poverty Premium

Poverty premium is essentially that those who are poorest in our society are those who pay more. It’s like a poor tax almost.

Examples:

• lack of a car - limits when and where they can work or shop

• locality - people may be located closer to a Sainsbury’s but would be unable to travel to Lidl where food is cheaper

• rent instead of buy - rent can be almost double that of a mortgage, but people on lower wages may not be able to save for a deposit to get a mortgage

• poorer people have poorer health and higher rates of illness - eg obesity, and healthier food costs 3x more per calorie compared to their junk food counterparts (Cambridge University, 2014)

Theres evidence to suggest that the poverty premium on average costs the poorest people in society £490 annually (Bristol University). It was previously estimated to cost up to £1,300 annually (Save the Children, 2010).

My prompt questions are: how do you feel about this? Could you see there being any solutions? IS there anything we can do?