UK families could see living standards fall by 2030

Average living standards could fall for all UK families by 2030, with those on the lowest incomes hit twice as hard as middle and high-earners, a new forecast suggests.

-  Andy Gregory, The Independent

In analysis published days before chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce new spending cuts in her spring statement, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) issued a stark new warning to the Labour government. While much discussion has focused on whether Ms Reeves will meet her “iron-clad” fiscal rules after rising borrowing costs wiped out the £10bn of headroom in her October budget, the JRF warned a preoccupation with the public purse risks a deterioration in the finances of ordinary families going under the radar. As a result, the charity believes Sir Keir Starmer could be on course to miss his fundamental milestone — just four months after it was announced — of seeing living standards rise during this parliament, a target which the JRF said would have been met by every previous government since comparable records began in 1955.