Britain’s poorest households have suffered a £4,500 hit to their finances since the start of the Covid pandemic, according to a report indicating that those on the lowest incomes have borne the brunt of the cost of living crisis.
Highlighting a dramatic fall in living standards since Boris Johnson’s election landslide four years ago, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) thinktank said soaring costs for energy, food and other basic essentials had hit those most badly off the hardest.
For the poorest half of households in Britain, it said living standards would be as much as 20% lower this year compared with 2019-20, after taking account of inflation, and would not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2027.
The intervention comes after the payment of the government’s final £299 cost of living support instalment for 8 million people on means-tested benefits this week, in the last of three payouts worth £900 in total.
Source : HERE