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Job costs add up to £91 billion a year

Workers spend a total of £91 billion a year on costs related to their jobs, according to research from Santander.

Expenses such as commuting, clothes, childcare and equipment cost add up to an average £3,405 per year for full-time employees – up 6% from 2014 and 27% since 2013.

This amount accounts to 16% of a full-time worker’s net income, up 15% from the previous year.

Commuting is the most expensive aspect of being employed, costing full-time workers an average of £1,087 per year. 

Other costs include:

  • public transport costs on average £1,357 per year
  • motorists spend £1,238 a year getting to work, with £922 spent on fuel and £180 spent on parking.

Childcare costs per year have also increased with the average adding up to £960. In particular, 25% of people pay more than 4 times the average – as much as £3,910 a year.

Barry Naisbitt, chief economist at Santander UK commented: 

“With over 31 million people currently working in the UK, employees are of huge value to the economy. Not only is this from the output of the work they produce, but also due to the substantial additional contribution they make through work-related products and services, to the tune of £91 billion per year. 

“From the money they spend on work clothes to the cost of childcare, employees re-invest a significant amount of the money they earn from work every month.”

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