£4.50 for a shirt. £40 for a suit. A coat for £15. Joseph Rowntree may express concern about Britons' incomes but they sure don't care about developing world workers.
Yes, for those of us who like to nit-pick and laugh at anomalies the Minimum Income Standard project published this week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has provided a wealth of opportunity. Budgets sheets for much merriment are available at minimumincomestandard.org
A single bag of frozen sweetcorn is supposed to last for nine months! One 100g packet of black peppercorns is expected to last for four years! Where can you buy a cucumber for 34p? Only a single 125g portion of beef mince per week. A tub of salt is expected to last for 6 years!
Only 6p worth of rice per week! 5p on carrots?? One carrot per week? Three onions per week. Only one portion of mushrooms every two weeks. Only one bottle of wine every two months!!!
Only one portion of cooked ham every five weeks. Only one and a half eggs per week.
A single person is allowed to buy brown sauce but daddies are expected to go without. No fancy baguettes or bread rolls for singletons
A single person's toilet cleaner lasts two weeks but a family of four extends to four weeks? How does that work?
A couch only lasts 5 years!!!
A pair of shoes only costs £20 and lasts for only one year?
If you buy a daily newspaper you are not allowed to buy any books.
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Where can you buy a shirt for £4.50? I've never seen one for less than £15. Standard price is £25 or £35. And why on earth would it only last one year? And what is that rubbish about a suit costing £40? A belt costs £3 and you buy two every two years? What? What kind of skank ned clientele is the Rowntree Foundation targeting? Apparently, you can buy a tie for £5.
A pair of jeans lasts longer than a jumper? You are expected to pay only £35 for a music system.
A pair of curtains for £21. Eh? Try multiplying that by twenty.
A family of four is expected to have only one bookcase for every ten years! No wonder standards are slipping. Surely the Foundation should be encouraging reading instead of accepting an absence of aspiration?