How does cost of living impact an individual? Gulf News looks at how residents balance salary and expenses

School fees

To ease the burden on many parents, the Dubai Executive Council in June announced a freeze on school fees for the coming academic year.

This came as a big relief for those already feeling the squeeze.

Cost of living: 2 views

Cost of living is not the same for all, said Sharma, especially for the rich, the not-sorich, and the those with very modest salaries. “Rich people will obviously a prefer higher standard of living, making their cost of living also high.

“On the other hand, people with modest means will have basic needs to fulfil, making their cost of living cheaper, as compared to the well-off. For the rich, cost of living can be subjective, but for the rest it is more of an actual picture of the market and economy,” Sharma said.

Disposable income in UAE

“Some expats seem to struggle to cover daily living expenses, as in 2017, close to three in 10 expats (27 per cent) state that their disposable household income is not enough to cover everything they need, compared to the global average of 23 per cent,” Malte Zeeck, founder of Inter Nations, said.

This means, out of every 10 expats, 3 said their disposable income is “not enough” to cover daily living expenses, another 3 said it is “about enough”, while 4 said it’s “more than enough”.