Two things are about to happen in Britain. Next month ministers will increase the value of benefits by just 3.1% – the equivalent of a real-terms cut in light of soaring inflation. At the same time, household costs will rocket: energy bills will increase by 54% from April alongside record high rents and a national insurance hike. Food price inflation is at its highest in almost a decade, while even getting tested for coronavirus is about to add £6 to the bills. The Resolution Foundation says the conflict in Ukraine will further push gas and oil inflation in UK to above 8% this spring – the biggest hit to households since the 1970s.
You don’t have to be an economist to work out what will happen next: if the money going out soars, while the money coming in shrinks in real-terms, millions of families who rely on benefits will be experiencing a socioeconomic catastrophe. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says 9 million families on benefits due to low incomes will be £500 worse off on average from April. About 400,000 people could be pulled into poverty.
