Naughty snacks are becoming more affordable in Britain relative to other goods as wages increase, according to a new index.
Many of life’s guilty pleasures are beating inflation, with an index tracking cheeky consumer goods showing that treats like ice-cream and fizzy drinks are rising slower than wages in Britain are going up.
The findings come despite a broader cost-of-living squeeze driven by a spike in the price of essentials like fuel and energy.
While the Consumer Price Index (CPI) says the cost-of-living has jumped 9% year-on-year, the new so-called ‘Consumer Vice Index’ (CVI) tells a very different story.
Independent economist John Hawksworth created a basket of around 100 goods that are considered minor vices in an effort to track the cost of Britain’s bad habits, making up the CVI for InvestingReviews.co.uk.
While the CPI, used to measure inflation in Britain, is running at an eye-watering 9% – the CVI shows only an 4.5% increase, while the pay grew by 5.6%.
Takeaways and tobacca are still up relative to the increase in wages, but chocolates, fizzy drinks, package holidays and horse racing are all relatively more affordable
Minus the pay growth, the treats work out 1.1% cheaper.
Categories included off-license alcohol, tobacco, fast-food, fizzy drinks, chocolate, horse-racing, and boozy package holidays. The index tracked how much households spend in each category.
The study merged selected price data collected by the Office of National Statistics with Real Time PAYE Employment and Earnings analysis based on figures produced by HMRC.
In the 12 months to April, CVI prices climbed by 4.5% while pay grew by 5.6%, meaning life’s guilty pleasures are actually becoming more affordable.
The CVI map shows the price of naughty snacks and treats across the UK minus the pay growth
The findings may provide some relief amid an otherwise glum economic climate.
Consumer Prices Inflation (CPI) remains much higher than median pay growth T9% vs 5.6%, owing to a spike in fuel and energy costs.
Scotland (0.4%) tops the CVI table due to the relatively modest pay growth and a greater spend on tobacco products, which have risen rapidly in price over the past year.
Wales (0.2%) came second, mainly because of subdued wage growth.
Despite Northern Ireland’s Brexit woes, life’s indulgences in the Six Counties were relatively cheapest at -2% year-on-year thanks mainly to strong labor growth.
The South West (-1.8%) and London (-1.4%) also performed strongly.
InvestingReviews.co.uk CEO Simon Jones said: ‘At long last we have some positive data to report. Booze, choccie biscuits, and even a trip to the local racetrack are all becoming more affordable.
‘No one is pretending any of these things are remotely good for you, but with all the doom and gloom around, people are entitled to live a little.’
Economist John Hawksworth said: ‘Families have been hit hard in recent months by sharp rises in energy, petrol and basic food bills that have pushed headline inflation rates to the highest seen in a generation.
‘But our analysis shows that there is a small silver lining in that a tight labor market has pushed up pay growth relative to pre-Covid norms across the UK.
‘This has made some of life’s guilty pleasures – from cake and biscuits to alcohol and package holidays – relatively more affordable over the past year, even as other cost of living pressures have increased.’