LONDON听–听Living standards in Britain look set to barely grow over the rest of the decade聽补苍诲听poorer households聽补谤别听likely to suffer a drop, in part due to a welfare squeeze, according to a report published by a think tank on Thursday.
Median household聽incomes after聽taxes, benefits including pensions聽and housing costs are on course to rise by聽a total of聽just 1%聽more than inflation聽by the 2029/30 fiscal year, the Resolution Foundation said. Lower-income families聽补谤别听expected to see a 1% fall.
罢测辫颈肠补濒听households paying mortgages will see incomes fall by 1% as the impact of higher interest rates feeds through to more borrowers. By contrast, people who own their homes outright are set to see their incomes grow by 3%, the foundation said.
The biggest winners are likely to be pensioners with their incomes forecast to rise by 5%. Families with children are set to have no income growth.
Adam Corlett, principal economist at the聽think tank, said the forecasts could prove to be too gloomy if the economy grows more quickly than expected. Low-income households would benefit if the government scraps a two-child limit on some聽蹿补尘颈濒测听benefits, he said.
The limit was introduced by the previous Conservative government. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is聽聽it. However, he has said he will聽聽to make it harder for people to claim聽long-term sickness and disability benefits聽which have run into opposition within his Labour Party. – Reuters
