From The Guardian
Disabled people, single parents and women have been among the biggest losers under seven years austerity, according to a report by the equalities watchdog.
While the poorest tenth of households will on average lose about 10% of their income by 2022 – equivalent to £1 in every £8 of net income – the richest will lose just 1%, or about £1 in every £250 of net income, the study carried out for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reveals.
David Isaac, the EHRC’s chairman, said the study showed the poorest households faced a “bleak future”, and called on ministers to review their plans. “The government can’t claim to be working for everyone if its policies actually make the most disadvantaged people in society financially worse off.”
The study modelled the cumulative impact on UK households by 2022 of all tax, social security and public spending policies carried out since 2010, including universal credit, VAT, and the national minimum wage.
It found that because of the regressive nature of the reforms implemented by the coalition and Conservative governments, households in the bottom half of the income scale would lose about £1,500 a year, while the top 20% of households would lose between £200 and £600.
It found that while regressive tax and benefits policies were a mark of both governments since 2010, the impact of policy decisions taken by the two Conservative administrations since 2015 will be to reduce incomes for the poorest, while increasing incomes for the richest 20%.
More here