UK’s poorest have borne brunt of cost of living crisis, says thinktank

Soaring costs now mean those on low incomes are £4,500 worse off since Boris Johnson’s election and the pandemic. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

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.