Lowest-income families will be £1,350 worse off after squeeze on tax credits, figures show
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Version 0 of 1. More than three million of the lowest-income families will be left an average of £1,350 worse off by the Government’s squeeze on tax credits, new figures have disclosed. David Cameron’s former anti-poverty tsar, Frank Field, said the figures made a mockery of the Prime Minister’s pledge during the general election campaign to stand up for hard-working “strivers”. Under Chancellor George Osborne’s moves, the income threshold at which working tax credits begin to be taken away will be cut from £6,420 to £3,850 next April. The rate at which the payments are reduced will also be increased. The House of Commons Library put the average loss at £1,350. Its analysis calculated that families with children with incomes of £20,000 to £30,000 would lose an average of £2,534 next year, while families with incomes of £10,000 to £20,000 would be £1,834 worse off. Mr Field, the Labour chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, told The Independent: “Before, during, and after the general election campaign the Tories rightly gained plaudits for their commitment to protect and advance the interests of Britain’s strivers. “Yet in his first post-election Budget the Chancellor has decided to knock this group for six.” |