Lack of help from Rishi Sunak for struggling UK families will push 1.3m into poverty
The lack of financial support for low-income families in Rishi Sunak’s mini-budget will see 1.3 million people – including half a million children – pushed below the poverty line next year, according to the Resolution Foundation thinktank.
The chancellor’s spring statement on Wednesday offered some tax cuts, such as 5p-a-litre off fuel duty and a £3,000 increase in the threshold for national insurance contributions, but came in for widespread criticism for failing to support poorer families and other vulnerable groups from the soaring cost of living.
The Resolution Foundation said just one-in-eight workers would see their tax bills fall by the end of this parliament in May 2024, when the rate of income tax will drop by 1p to 19p.
“In the face of a cost of living crisis that looks set to make this parliament the worst on record for household incomes, the chancellor came to the box yesterday promising support with the cost of living today, and tax cuts tomorrow,” said Torsten Bell, the thinktank’s chief executive.
“The decision not to target support at those hardest hit by rising prices will leave low- and-middle income households painfully exposed.”
The Resolution Foundation said it is the first time that there will be such a large increase in the number of people being pushed into poverty outside of a recession.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said on Wednesday that inflation will hit a 40-year high of 8.7% in October, fuelling the biggest fall in living standards in any single year since records began in 1956.
The foundation’s analysis of Sunak’s spring statement estimates that a typical family is due to see a £1,100 fall in income this year, around 4%, with the poorest households facing a 6% fall.
It also found that
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