By ROB HULL
Car ownership is eating up a quarter of the poorest UK households' income as inadequate and expensive public transport outside major cities leaves them with no viable alternative.
A charity has warned ministers the nation's transport system is placing a 'serious strain' on hard-up families and is 'deepening poverty and social exclusion' that is leaving low-income households cut off from jobs, services and opportunity.
As a result, the think tank believes transport costs are fueling the extension of the cost-of-living crisis.
The Institute for Public Policy Research's (IPPR) analysis calculated the average household spends £87 a week on transport, though this rises to £108 if they own a car, but falls to £13 for non-car owners.
Even though the poorest travel much less than the richest, they spend twice as much of their income on 'surface transport' – such as trains, buses, cars and bikes – compared to the richest.
The poorest fifth of households are estimated to spend 18 per cent of their income on transport, compared to 11 per cent on average, and 9 per cent for the richest, the IPPR said.
The nation's poorest households are forced to spend a quarter of their total income on car ownership
The report says the high cost of train tickets, poor bus provision and inadequate links to public transport make much of the population reliant on owning a car, even when it comes at a great cost.
The poorest fifth of households spend an average of 25 per cent of their income on their vehicles, if they own one.
Hiking the cost of car ownership is insurance, with premiums for those living in more deprived areas typically between 15 and 20 per cent higher than average.
The IPPR recommends the Government provides additional funding to local authorities to retain local bus routes and set up transport concession schemes, such as travel passes for young people and jobseekers.
It also wants to see the introduction of a social leasing scheme for electric vehicles - so people on low incomes in rural households can lease a car for a low monthly fee subsidised by the Government - and slash the VAT rate on public charging to 5 per cent down from 20 per cent.
Hiking the cost of car ownership is insurance, with premiums for those living in more deprived or more ethnically diverse areas typically between 15 and 20 per cent higher than average
Becca Massey-Chase, principal research fellow at IPPR, said: 'Too many people are locked out of opportunity because the transport system simply doesn't work for them.
'Parents are out of work, kids are late to school, and medical appointments are missed — not because people are unwilling, but because the buses don't turn up or the cost of a journey is unaffordable.
'If the Government is serious about tackling poverty, it must fix local transport. That means cheaper, more reliable services — designed with and for the people who rely on them most.'
Ruth Talbot, founder of Single Parent Rights, added: 'This report highlights what single parents have long known: reliable, affordable transport is a lifeline, not a luxury.
'When it works well it makes the challenges of family life with one income and one pair of hands manageable, without it, single parent families are excluded from communities, services and employment opportunities.
Becca Lyon, head of England at Save the Children UK, also commented, saying: 'We fear transport is becoming increasingly inaccessible to families and is an under-explored outcome of the cost of living crisis. It comes up as a major issue time and time again.
'It's clear that more investment in affordable local transport options is needed to give families more choice about how they spend their money.'
