Struggle to pay bills revealed in new research

New research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows how families are struggling to support themselves

Research for the York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that working families with children are facing bigger shortfalls in their household budgets this year.

After-school clubs and swimming lessons are likely to be sacrificed so people can pay for essentials, said a report by the social policy and research charity.

A two-children family with one breadwinner, and one not working, is £120 a week short of reaching a minimum income standard, up by £17 a week from last year, the report said.

The increase in the national living wage is offset by a cut in tax credits and housing benefit and a rise in tax and National Insurance payments, according to the study.

Lone parents and working couples with children are also short of enough money for a decent standard of living

Campbell Robb, chief executive of the JRF, said: “Working families are facing bigger holes in their budgets worth hundreds of pounds, despite a higher national living wage and tax cuts. It means millions of families are facing a struggle to make ends meet as the cost of getting by in modern Britain rises ever higher.

“Struggling families tell us as well as juggling the bills, it’s things like after-school clubs and swimming lessons that must be sacrificed to cover the essentials.

“With the Bank of England forecasting inflation will increase even higher this year, families are facing no respite. We need the Government to take action and ensure living standards do not fall backwards. Lifting the freeze on working-age benefits and tax credits must be the start along with allowing people to keep more of their earnings.”

The minimum income standard is based on what members of the public think people need to achieve a decent living standard.

Donald Hirsch of the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, author of the report, said: “This year we have seen a return to inflation for the first time since the freeze in benefits and tax credits was introduced. It is clear from these results that this freeze is preventing better minimum wages from feeding through to improved family living standards.”