How much money do you need to earn to be comfortable in the capital?

Edinburgh Evening News

A new report has determined that the ‘average cost of happiness’ in the UK is £36,945.  Research carried out by online savings market place, Raisin UK, explored the relationship between money and happiness.  Analysing data from the Office of National Statistics, the World Health Organisation and personal well-being reports, the research identified cities in the UK where money can buy you happiness.  We asked Edinburgh residents what they thought of this report…

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00:42 Edinburgh's quite expensive to live in, aside from housing and stuff,

00:47 but even just going out, you know, like drinks, food, stuff like that,

00:51 obviously now the cost of food shopping, everything like that,

00:54 so I would say, even though it sounds like quite a high number,

00:57 probably, probably yeah, speaking from experience of us struggling

01:03 with the cost of living crisis. My husband's a taxi driver in Edinburgh,

01:07 but obviously with COVID and stuff it was terrible,

01:10 so trying to play catch up from that. So I would say yeah, that probably is

01:14 a bit of figure that you would need to probably live quite comfortably

01:19 in somewhere like Edinburgh.

01:21 And this is coming from someone who's been retired for a good few years.

01:25 You need to be earning above average, above the national average,

01:30 because it's a big city, there's a hunk of cost with a big city.

01:36 There's also a bit of expectation of things you do in a big city,

01:41 going out, things like that, which cost, and over the last six months or so,

01:49 and certainly since lockdown and that kind of stuff,

01:52 the costs have gone way up. And recently, I mean, we're just about to do a shopping,

01:56 it's noticeable what your food costs are, your costs of basics are way up.

02:03 I think that number's a bit unrealistic in terms of like a normal family,

02:08 to be honest, and money doesn't really come into it.

02:12 A lot of things are free, spending time with your kids and your family are free,

02:15 and you can't put a price on that, so I don't necessarily agree.

02:19 I don't think it, it doesn't even sound like it's representative of a lot of people

02:22 in Edinburgh, depending on where you're working.

02:24 I don't think that a lot of people in Edinburgh do get to that 36k mark,

02:29 except if you're in professional and corporate jobs.

02:32 Yeah, I think this area definitely wouldn't allow for you to live here

02:39 comfortably more than just yourself.

02:41 It's just hard for everybody. It's not just a case of, you know, it goes up and up and up.

02:46 Obviously we're a generation now of pensioners, which is even worse, you know, too,

02:52 but you haven't got to cut your cloth, pull everything back in again,

02:56 when you shouldn't have to, right? You know, you should be enjoying personally.

03:00 There's time in our lives that we've got left, you know, as well,

03:03 not having to worry about money as well, or saving money and not using money,

03:07 you know, that you've got, they tell you that, you know, to spend it, you know.

03:11 Yes, probably it's true, but when you've got family, you keep thinking,

03:14 that's not the right thing to do.

03:17 But I worry for the generation that's coming up now, you know, like some of my family as well,

03:22 because they're going to be paying for so much, you know, in years to come.

03:27 It's my grandchildren, then, to worry about what, you know,

03:31 what will they be living in that we'll not see, you know.

03:35 It's not a really nice place to be in, you know, really, at the moment.

03:40 I think you just go on from day to day and try and make the most of it, really,

03:47 and don't grumble, if that's such a thing, you know, as well,

03:51 but you've just got to try and make the most of it.

03:54 Also, depending on where you live, because this area here, for example, is very, very expensive,

04:00 and the rents also go higher because of student tenancy.

04:06 Some landlords abuse that a little bit.

04:08 You have, like, foreign students coming, you have a bigger, higher power of purchase

04:12 than, for example, Scottish students.

04:14 They're not still at home.

04:16 But, yeah, I mean, as a mom, I would definitely say that money for just me and him,

04:21 living here in Edinburgh, wouldn't--

04:26 I wouldn't be able to travel, for example, two or three times a year

04:32 to go see my family in Portugal.

04:34 Extra activities for him, nursery, all that really piles up.

04:39 So I would say, here in Edinburgh, that salary would go for a single person

04:44 with no dependents, fine, probably not living in this neighbourhood.

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