MP today reveals the
wreckage that has been left by successive waves of caps and
freezes to the uprating of benefits and tax credits claimed by
families with children.
In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which includes a
detailed analysis from the House of Commons Library, Frank
reveals that:
- · The
six separate waves of caps and freezes that have been introduced
over the past decade have not only wiped out any gains associated
with the introduction of the National Living Wage and the
increase in the personal allowance; they have also left families
worse off in real terms than they were in 2010. That is without
even considering the cuts that have been made to housing benefit,
for example, which have penalised renters on low incomes.
- · Had
benefits and tax credits been inflation proofed throughout the
past decade, lone parents in work, and single-earner couples,
with two children would be £1,401 better off, in real terms, next
year compared with 2010. Meanwhile, those with one child would be
£1,151 better off.
- · As a
result of the caps and freezes, a lone parent in work, or a
single-earner couple, with two children will actually be £132
worse off, in real terms, next year compared with 2010. Likewise,
a lone parent in work, or a single-earner couple, with one child
will be £36 worse off. Similarly placed families who are out of
work will be in an even worse financial position than in 2010,
having suffered even deeper real terms cuts in their annual
income; ranging from £491, to £723.
- · While
inflation is forecast to be around twenty per cent higher next
year than in 2010, Child Benefit and the basic and 30-hour
elements of Working Tax Credit will only be two per cent higher.
Frank comments: ‘In the light of these trends, it is not
difficult to see why so many families reliant on low-waged jobs
now seek help from their local food bank. The House of Commons
Library’s analysis, which surveys this wreckage in devastating
detail, is one of two reasons for writing to the
Chancellor.
‘The second is the horror I have experienced upon witnessing the
plight of some of my constituents using feeding projects in
Birkenhead, and elsewhere. There is an overwhelming
precariousness that has engulfed families in low-waged work, all
too many of whom are vulnerable to hunger because their incomes
will not stretch to the end of the month.
‘These caps and freezes that have left families worse off over
the past decade do not even include sanctions or housing benefit
cuts. I very much hope that, having considered these new data,
the Chancellor will begin setting out, in the Spring Statement, a
rescue package for the living standards of families with children
whose incomes have been wrecked by successive waves of caps and
freezes.’
