According to research, the number of UK workers earning below the "living wage" (the wage necessary to maintain an adequate lifestyle) has risen to an enormous 4.8 million. That's equal to 20% of the employed working population and is up from 3.4 million in 2009. 77% of employees under 20 and two thirds of restaurant and hotel workers earn less than the living wage (currently £8.55 in London, £7.45 elsewhere in the UK).
For those with larger pay packets, wages have still fallen more in real terms in the current economic climate than ever before with a third of workers who have stayed in the same job seeing a wage cut or freeze.
On top of that, many jobs have been lost completely.
So how do we cope with low incomes and rising outgoings? Can we be happy or content in whatever financial situation we find ourselves? We may know that money doesn't bring happiness but our finances can still be a massive blind spot. It's all too easy for cash flow concerns to turn into an obsession or idol.
In Beyond Greed, Brian Rosner gives us some words of comfort, logic and guidance. He encourages us to see how Jesus taught us not to be rich in this world but rich in the next and live a life of contentment not comparison. Brian helps us open our eyes to the problems of money and proposes a liberating lifestyle that trades materialism for something of far greater worth and satisfaction.
Get it HERE at 20% off.
Dean is the Sales Manager at The Good Book Company. He engages with churches, organizations and individuals to provide them with useful resources for their varying ministries. Dean attends St John's Church in Woking, where he lives with his family.
