1.3m will be pushed into poverty with no support
The lack of support for low-income families in the Chancellor's spring statement leaves more than one million Britons on the verge of "absolute poverty", a think tank has said.
Resolution Foundation, a living standards think tank, warned Rishi Sunak's measuresrepresenteda"big but poorly targeted policy package" which does not do enough to aid the families who have been hit the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis.
In his Commons statement,mrsunakannounced a 5p cut in fuel duty and an increase in the threshold at which people pay national insurance contributions, benefiting around 30 million workers with a tax cut worth more than £330.
He promised further supportin2024withapledgeto cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p in the pound to 19p – "a £5 billion tax cut for over 30 million people".
However, analysis from the Resolution Foundation said Mr Sunak's measures do not meet the scale of the cost-of-living squeeze, with 1.3 million Britons set to fall below the poverty line next year,including500,000children – the first time Britain has seen such a rise outside of a recession.
It also determined that only one-in-eight workers will actually see their tax bills fall by the end of the parliament.
Resolution Foundation's analysis states: "Of the 31 million people in work, around27million(seven-ineightworkers)willpaymore in income tax and (national insurance) in 2024-25."
The think tank added that typical working-age household incomes are set to fall by 4 per cent in real terms next year, while incomes in the poorest quarter of households are expected to fall by 6 per cent.