THE UK’s cost of living standards have come under scrutiny in a new index, the Sausage Roll index.
A nationwide study is comparing the amount of time at their desks people from around the country have to work to earn enough dough for a Gregg’s sausage roll.
Compiled by leading economist John Hawksworth, and uses figures from the Office of National Statistics
The index considers the average median pay and combines it with the price of a Gregg’s sausage roll for 100 towns and cities across the UK.
Reading has placed 13th, with its workers earning the £1.05 cost of the pastry snack in just under three and a half minutes.
It was beaten by Basingstoke, at 03:22; Cambridge, at 03:17; Guildford, at 03:16; and Oxford, at 03:15.
London was top of the list, with workers making the dough in just under three minutes.
The study is based on The Economist’s Big Mac Index, which compares the price of a Big Mac in a given location.
The universal nature of the Big Mac, and the now ubiquitous Gregg’s sausage roll, are seen as a useful benchmark for comparison.
John Hawksworth said: “In part the analysis is a bit of fun with the sausage roll standing in for the Big Mac as a standardised product to compare purchasing power across different places.
“But it does also make the serious point that there are very large variations in income levels across our towns and cities.”
Further down the list, workers in the north had to work the longest to earn their crust.
NThose in Newcastle-Upon_Tyne, where John Gregg opened his first shop in 1951, have to work for 03:46 for their sausage rolls.
Hereford and Middlesborough, at 03:48 each, were pipped for last place by Lichfield, just six seconds short of five minutes.
The index was commissioned by InvestingReviews.co.uk.
Simon Jones, its CEO, said: “Amid all the government’s talk of levelling up, a great divide still exists across Great Britain today with Greggs customers in some parts typically having to work 65% longer than Londoners just to be able to afford a sausage roll.
“As the cost of living squeeze continues to intensify, Brits are going to have to work a lot harder in the future to afford life’s simple pleasures.
“The government is going to have to take urgent action if their flagship policy doesn’t become a millstone around their neck.”
