There is no doubt that some people are doing very well in what for many are cash-strapped times: namely those on well-paid jobs whose mortgage costs have dipped even quicker than the economy.
Armed with this spare cash, it has become easier for those with recession-enriched lifestyles to absorb the lopsided price rises in essentials such as food, energy and public transport.
As usual, it is the poor who suffer.
Take food, for example. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in the 12 months to April 2009 food inflation ran at 9%, more than three times higher than the retail prices index, whose downward trend has been led by the reduced costs of mortgage repayments that have benefited the better-off.
Indeed, JRF's now annual minimum income standard report points out that, in the past year, the cost of a minimum household budget has risen by about 5% for most families.
Working-age people on benefits remain well below the income standard of £13,900 a year for a single person and £27,600 for a couple with children.
Even the benefits system is struggling to keep up, according the JRF report.
The findings are worth a look because they shed light on the reality behind the retail prices index and give some clue about the scale of poverty in the UK - which can only get worse as unemployment rises.
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