Cost of living crisis deepens north-south divide - with Mancunians left £130 worse off

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.

READ MORE:Full list of benefits claimants who will not get £650 Cost of Living payment

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