Covering the cost of living honestly

National inflation figures average across an entire economy. Household experience does not. A single number can hide the very different pressures on a renter in a growing city, an older homeowner on a fixed income, and a young family in a town where the supermarket is the only place to shop.

Cost-of-living reporting works best when it stays close to those specific situations. What does a typical week of groceries look like in different parts of the country. How are people adjusting — driving less, dropping insurance, sharing childcare, returning to work earlier than planned.

It also means being careful with comparisons. Wages, rents, transport costs and utility prices move at different speeds in different regions. A story that flattens all of that into one figure can mislead more than it explains.

Our approach is to keep the human picture central, and to use national data to give it shape rather than the other way around.