Sunak could have done more to help poorest families, say thinktanks

theguardian.com:

Rishi Sunak has sought to defend his mini-budget against accusations he failed to shield Britain’s poorest families from the worst hit to living standards in six decades, as economists warned 1.3 million people will fall into absolute poverty next year.

Amid heavy criticism of Wednesday’s spring statement from opposition leaders and his own back benches, experts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and Resolution Foundation thinktanks said the chancellor could have done more to help those most at need.

With those on the lowest incomes bearing the brunt of Britain’s cost of living crisis, the Resolution Foundation said absolute poverty was now on course to hit almost a fifth of the population. It said half a million more children were expected to fall below the breadline this financial year, bringing the total to 12.5 million across the UK, up from 11.2 million.

The rise in absolute poverty – where households have less than 60% of the average income – would be the first time such an increase has been recorded in Britain outside of a recession, demonstrating the scale of the shock to family budgets as the war in Ukraine adds to a pandemic-induced surge in living costs.

In a round of spiky media interviews on Thursday, Sunak defended his plans by saying he could not solve “every problem” and insisted that measures such as a 5p cut to fuel duty, a rise in the national insurance threshold and the promise of an income tax cut in two years’ time would “make a difference”.

He said official forecasts for the biggest hit to living standards since the mid-1950s needed to be taken in context as Britain emerges from the “biggest economic shock in over 300 years” inflicted by the Covid pandemic.

After facing criticism for announcing