Region hit hard as family spending power drops

Only Northern Ireland was worse off, with commentators saying the North-South divide is widening.

“The North-South divide has widened with only London and the South East better off than the UK average,” said one London analyst.

The latest Asda Income Tracker revealed that spending power in Yorkshire fell by £15 a week in September 2011, the third consecutive month of record-breaking decline.

The squeeze left the average UK family with £163 of weekly disposable income, down 8.4 per cent from this time last year.

Yorkshire’s average weekly household income of £88 followed Northern Ireland where income fell from £94 to £76.

Wales matched Yorkshire while the North East was the fourth hardest hit – with income falling from £118 to £100 – but Londoners’ incomes fell from £299 to £276 while they dropped from £210 to £197 in the South East, both above the UK average of £163.

Commenting on the London figure, the report said: “This is a full 69 per cent above the UK average, as Londoners enjoy much higher spending power than the average British family. Northern Ireland, Yorkshire & Humber and Wales continue to suffer from the lowest discretionary household incomes for the UK.”

Comment: Page 12.