A quarter of households in the West Midlands are struggling to make ends meet – and the number has increased significantly since the banking crisis.
A study by campaigning think-tank the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found 25.1 per cent of homes in the West Midlands have an income which is too low to provide an acceptable standard of living.
And the number has shot up from 2008, when 20.6 per cent of West Midland households were experiencing financial difficulties.
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The figures are based partly on a study by academics at Loughborough University to determine what most people would consider to be a basic standard of living for an ordinary household.
For example, a minimum income required to maintain a basic standard of living would include enough money for essentials such as food, rent and clothing, and also a small amount for leisure activities and a holiday taken in the 海角视频.
The precise income needed changes according to whether a household contains children and how old they are.
The region with the worst record by both measures is London, which, despite being the wealthiest part of the country, also has high levels of inequality.
Across the country, families with children are now at greater risk than any other group of having an inadequate income, with more than one in three having less than they require for a socially acceptable standard of living. At least 8.1 million parents and children are living on incomes below what is needed to cover a minimum household budget, up by more than a third from 5.9 million in 2008/09.
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Single breadwinner families have seen a large increase in the risk of inadequate income. In 2008, 38 per cent of families with children where someone works full-time and their partner does not work were struggling to get by – but in 2012/13 that figure had risen to 51 per cent.
Katie Schmuecker, policy and research manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "There has been a turnaround in who is suffering most as a result of the economic crisis and government measures to reduce the deficit.
"While last year's monitoring report showed a sharp rise in young single people struggling to make ends meet, this year's report shows a rapid widening of the gap between the incomes and costs of families with children.
"Falling earnings, cuts to in- and out-of-work benefits and sharp rises in the cost of essential items over several years have taken their toll upon the ability of families with children to secure a decent living standard."
The think tank is calling for measures to ensure fuel bills, bank and other financial charges and transport all offer good value for money and to protect poorer people so they don't end up paying more than wealthier people for the same service.
For example, some fuel providers offer a discount to people who pay by direct debit, but people on lower incomes are less likely to have bank accounts which make that possible.
Meanwhile, pledge to create "full employment" after the next election has been slammed by a Midland MP who warned that the region has too many low-wage and low-skilled jobs – meaning even households with two working adults are struggling.
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The Conservative leader continued his focus on the economy in a major speech setting out key pledge that will appear in the party's General Election manifesto.
He insisted: "After a tough few years, we have a good record of getting people into work – 1,000 jobs every day this Government has been in office. We've created more jobs here in Britain than the rest of the European Union combined."
But Labour highlighted its plans to guarantee a job for every unemployed person out of work for two years – or for one year if they are aged 18 to 24.
The compulsory scheme will be funded partly by a new tax on bankers' bonuses, Labour says.
Labour MP for Hodge Hill, said: "Quite frankly the shiny new pledge will be greeted with a hollow laugh.
"People will look at David Cameron's record creating a low-wage, low-growth economy and wonder who he takes us for.
"This is the first government since the 1920s that is set to leave people worse off at the end of their term in office, and families know it."
The most recent figures show that the 173,000 people are unemployed in the West Midlands, an unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent.
This is a fall of 34,000 people over the past three months. The number of people in work has risen by 31,000 over three months.
Official figures also show there are 124,000 part time workers in the region who say they want a full time job but cannot get one.
There are also 455,000 part time workers who say they do not want a full time job and the number of people with two jobs has risen to 90,000 – up from 76,000 a year previously.