Women in UK ‘will be worse off than in 2010 unless public spending rises’

Goods at a food bank. The Women’s Budget Group said: ‘We can’t have a healthy economy when millions of people are forced to rely on food banks to feed their families.’ Photograph: Andy Buchanan/PA

Rachel Reeves should announce a significant uplift in public spending in next month’s budget, or risk women bearing the brunt of continuing austerity, a group of campaigning economists argue.

Analysis by the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) suggests the living standards of the poorest women will have declined by a “staggering” 21% between 2010 and 2027-28, if Labour sticks to Jeremy Hunt’s spending plans.