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Revealed: the true cost of being single

Revealed: the true cost of being single
Revealed: the true cost of being single

Single people are forced to spend £860 more a month on the cost of living than those in couples.

The cost of rent, groceries and household bills were much higher for single people living alone compared with couples, according to analysis from the broker Hargreaves Lansdown.

On average, a single person spends £1,851 per month on typical bills, including food, internet and a Netflix subscription. But someone in a couple would spend just £991 on the same services, the broker said.

Single people were also less likely to have sufficient emergency savings, at 53pc compared with 79pc of those in relationships, a poll by Hargreaves Lansdown found. They were less likely to have enough cash left over at the end of the month to be considered financially resilient, at 14pc compared with 47pc of people in couples.

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Sarah Coles, of Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Single people have less in savings, and less cash left over at the end of the month. They pay the price over the long term too, because they’re less likely to be building equity in a property or saving enough to be on track for a moderate retirement income.”

Ms Coles added that money was particularly difficult to manage for single parents, where three-quarters of people suffered from poor or very poor financial resilience.

“Even the tax system seems stacked against you,” she added. “There are specific tax breaks for people who are married or in civil partnerships, from the marriage allowance to the fact there is no inheritance tax on assets passed between spouses after death, or capital gains tax on assets passed while you’re alive.

“Meanwhile single parents earning over £50,000 begin to lose their child benefit, while both members of the couple could bring home £49,999 a year and still get the benefit in full.”

A growing number of people are struggling to meet the cost of basic necessities as rampant inflation persists. Over a fifth of people have turned to either credit or money from family and friends to pay for essential household bills, according to a recent survey by the Government’s financial advice scheme, the Money and Pensions Service.

Purchases on credit spiked before Christmas, with consumers spending £1.2bn in November, three times higher than the preceding month, a report from the Bank of England found.

However, the debt advice charity StepChange has warned that money borrowed over Christmas could take years to repay, as the cost of borrowing continues to rise. The average rate for a credit card hit a record high of 30.4pc this month, according to the analyst Moneyfacts.