Around 1.3 million people will be pushed into “absolute poverty” next year, a think tank has said, amid criticism that Rishi Sunak’s mini budget did little to help lower-income families.
In yesterday’s Spring Statement, Mr Sunak announced a 5p cut in fuel duty and an increase in the threshold at which people pay national insurance contributions.
However analysis from the Resolution Foundation, an economic think thank, said that Mr Sunak’s measures do not meet the scale of the cost-of-living squeeze. They said that 1.3 million Britons would fall below the poverty line next year, including 500,000 children - the first time Britain has seen such a rise outside of a recession.
Mr Sunak’s mini budget was roundly criticised in the morning papers, with many leading on the Office of Budget Responsibility’s warning that families face the biggest fall in living standards on record.
Richard Hughes, chairman of the OBR, said that people can expect a 2 per cent fall in their living standards in the coming 12 months. Mr Hughes also said that energy bills are “doubling” over the course of the year, rising by around 50 per cent in April and another 40 per cent in October.
