People living in Manchester are seeing their wages fall by an average of over £130 a month due to the cost of living - as a new report details how the crisis is widening the north-south divide.
As inflation continues to soar across the country, it's the North of England that is bearing the brunt, particularly in towns and cities in Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
In Manchester, inflation stood at 10.1 per cent in April 2022, compared to 8.8 per cent in London and 9.3 per cent in Oxford. In Wigan, inflation is even higher than in Manchester at 10.4 per cent.
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Three towns in Lancashire have been the worst hit by the cost of living, according to a new report by the Centre for Cities Thinktank. In Burnley, Blackburn and Blackpool inflation is between 11 and 11.5 per cent.
It is thought cities in the North are being hit harder by the cost of living due to poorer quality of housing and their reliance on cars, as the price of petrol continues to climb to record levels.
Houses in the north of the country also tend to be the "leakiest" and "least-insulated" according to the Thinktank. In Burnley, around 95 per cent of housing is below band C on the the national energy performance certificate (EPC) - compared to 50 per cent in Milton Keynes - making the average energy bill much higher.
Wages in the north of the country are failing to offset the cost of living. This is borne out in the data - which showed that in April 2022, the average worker in Manchester experienced a 'real wage' loss of £133.
Wages have dropped from an average of £2,370 in April 2021 to £2,237 in 2022 when taking into account the rate of inflation. And in Wigan, workers felt a loss of £132 to wages, with the average monthly 'real wage' standing at £2,264 in April 2021 and £2,132 for the same month in 2022.
The Centre for Cities Thinktank predict that inflation is leaving workers in the North of England, Midlands and Wales nearly £340 a year poorer than in the south of the country.
A lack of quality housing means that when the energy price cap is lifted in October, it will be households in the North of England which will be most affected. It comes at a time when residents in Greater Manchester are already struggling to put food on the table due to the soaring cost of running their home.
Like James, who is sleeping rough on the streets of Manchester city centre to 'get used to it' as he knows he soon won't be able to afford to cover his rent and the cost of gas and electricity.
James says that even though he has a place to stay he’s back on the streets to prepare himself for the inevitability of being evicted. "I’ve still got my gaff, but what’s the point of living there when I can’t afford gas, electric and can’t get no help."
"I feel like I’m going to lose it soon, very soon. Since all them bills come in I’ve been on the streets five, six weeks, just to get used to it again, because I know it’s gonna happen again."
And mum-of-two Leanne Kay, who says she has been left "skint" and worries that things are only going to get worse, as she struggles to find the cash to top up her smart meter.
"I put money on the smart meter and it's just going within a day," she said. "I used to use like £1 a day but now it's £4. It's hard, especially when you have a baby. I have to put the heating on and what about food? I'm struggling and I'm worried it'll all go up again."
Manchester councillor, Tim Whiston, says residents in his constituency of Sharston in Wythenshawe are "extremely" worried about the cost of living.
"This report just tells us what we already knew really," he said. "It just speaks to 12 years of Tory austerity and cuts to Manchester residents and services. In Manchester the government talks about levelling up. In Wythenshawe we are calling on the government to invest in our community, creating more jobs and affordable housing."
Wigan councillor, Chris Ready added: "Everyone is suffering from the cost of living but up North there really is an issue. We deal with residents daily and they are all really struggling with it. People are really worried about fuel and food is going up on a daily basis. We seem to have a lot of kids on free school meals at the moment.
"Salaries are less here than in the south of England and it's quite especially worrying up here because people can't see a light at the end of the tunnel at the moment."
In May, the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a package of support to help families cover the burden of rising energy bills, with all households in Britain set to receive a one-off £400 grant.
Mr Sunak also announced a £300 payment to be made to all pensioner households alongside the winter fuel payment, and a one-off £650 payment for more than eight million low-income households on benefits.
But the Centre for Cities Thinktank predict this package will fail of offset inflation in many major cities in the North of England. "The Government’s support package varies across the country and while welcome, is not based on actual energy needs and fails to consider the fact that energy demand is influenced by the energy efficiency of housing stock," they said.
"This means that unless additional targeted support is provided, for many places, particularly those in the North, energy bills are likely to jump even higher when the price cap is lifted in October."
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