With April around the corner, many households are understandably concerned about how hard the increased costs of living is going to hit them. With petrol prices at record highs ( one petrol station in Wales had fuel at 199.9p a litre this weekend ) and letters warning of massive increases in gas and electricity bills, it's a worrying time — one food bank described this weekend how a teenager had collapsed from hunger.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced a number of economic decisions in the Spring Budget. Among these, the threshold for National Insurance contributions will rise to £12,570 which may affect how much you pay in taxes and other bills. Sunak defended the package of measures after being criticised for not going far enough to help those facing falling into poverty, or further into poverty, due to the rising cost of living.
Mr Sunak said: “I can’t protect them from absolutely everything that we face” adding that he knew rising financial pressures were “the number one concern that people have right now”. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently revealed that consumer price inflation – a measure of the rate of increase in the price of goods and services – hit 5.4% in December, its highest since 1992. And household budgets are likely to be squeezed further this year with price hikes predicted in various parts of the economy.
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We have updated our cost of living calculator to reveal how much more money you may be paying on bills and tax from April. The calculator takes into account the changes to national insurance. The calculator will load here, simply fill in the details to find out the financial impact you face:
