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Reposted by Maudie Johnson-Hunter

Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Around 4.5 million children are living in relative poverty after housing costs. 200,000 more since before the pandemic. These are record numbers of children living in poverty. Latest DWP figures on Households Below Average Income has found 🔽 1/3

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Reposted by Maudie Johnson-Hunter

Alfie Stirling @alfie-stirling.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

NEW from @jrf-uk.bsky.social. Much was made of the pressures from a “changing world” on public finances. Those pressures are also impacting families, and government choices are making it worse. We find the avg. family will now be £750/yr worse off by 2029, vs today. Thread. #SpringStatement

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

OBR's measure of living standards, RHDI, is up by £500 - largely due to stronger wage growth, including planning reforms which boost incomes. BUT when you dig into it, 3/4 of the extra income from housing services is 'imputed rents' (what families would receive if they rented out their home). 1/3

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Living standards are forecast to have already peaked this parliament, with Keir Starmer on track to preside over the worst parliament in modern history for living standards. New JRF analysis on living standards ahead of the Spring Statement ⬇️ 1/🧵

Line graph showing real disposable incomes for the average family feel during the cost of living crisis, before some recovery to 2025. From then, incomes are forecast to fall across the rest of the decade.

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JamesSmithRF @jamessmithrf.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

New ONS public finances data out this morning look grim for the Chancellor. These are key data for next week’s Spring Statement providing a last chance to look at the fiscal position before we get new forecasts. A thread…

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

With the Chancellor expected to miss her fiscal rules next week, there are always choices on how to respond. Cutting disability benefits by £5b and further squeezing public services, already facing £8b in cuts to unprotected departments, are the wrong choices. 1/3

ft.com

UK government borrowing overshoots expectations

Official figures will add to pressure on chancellor as she prepares for Spring Statement next week

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Iain Porter @iainkporter.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Big picture today is Government chose to cut unprecedented £5bn of income from disabled people at highest risk of hardship. This drive for cost savings undermines any positive changes contained in the disability benefits green paper. Here are some other big problems:🧵1/11

JRF Chief Executive Paul Kissack said:

"No truly moral choice would leave disabled people without the very support that is designed to allow them to lead a dignified life, nor would it leave them facing hardship. These would be unprecedented disability benefits cuts.

“Ideas like the Right to Try Guarantee help to remove the barriers that prevent people from working but enormous cuts mean the Government risks undermining these positives. Making it harder for people to qualify for support, or cutting their support, puts more pressure on people who are already struggling to cope.

"Ministers should boost the basic rate of Universal Credit without taking the extra support from the pockets of disabled people receiving UC health. It should be funded by those with the broadest shoulders.

"A government that came to office pledging to end the moral scar of food bank use clearly should not be taking steps that could leave disabled people at greater risk of needing to use one."

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Today's announcement to cut £5b from disability benefits, to plug a funding gap in the Spring Statement, is an immoral choice to balance to books on the backs of those who need it the most. JRF's cost of living tracker shows the hardship already deeply hitting low-income families, before any cuts

Bar chart showing families with a disabled person, whether in receipt of benefit or not, are at very high risk of hardship. Families without any benefits and those receiving incapacity benefits, like UC LCW and LCWRA have the greatest levels of hardship, with around 9 in 10 going without essentials and two thirds in arrears.

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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Really good reporting from @channel4news.bsky.social on the uk’s shameful rate of child poverty. We need an ambitious child poverty strategy that starts to rebuild Universal Credit so it protects families when they fall on hard times www.channel4.com/news/child-p...

channel4.com

Child poverty will rise in parts of the UK, warns charity

A leading charity has warned that economic growth alone won't tackle deep-seated levels of poverty.

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Health chapter in UK Poverty, out today, is a grim read. Life expectancy in the most deprived areas in England has never been lower, since reporting began in 2011. Comparing the 10% most and least deprived areas in England - Females live on average 8 years less - Men live on average 10 years less

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Key stats from the cost of living chapter of the latest @jrf-uk.bsky.social UK Poverty report, out today 🧵 7 in 10 families in the lowest fifth of incomes were going without essentials in October 2024, including - Over half cutting back or skipping meals - 4 in 10 going hungry 1/4

Dual axis column and dot chart, with proportion of families going without essentials and food, and the number in millions. Around 7 in 10 or 4.1m families were going without essentials, including 3m cutting back of skipping meals and 2.3m going hungry.

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I ran some stats from our lastest cost of living tracker for Peston's show this week on the experiences of families in receipt of disability benefits. The whole segment is worth a watch on how many people the Government actually expects to move into work, and the hardship they are facing.

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

DEFRA report out today shows food insecurity is up, from 8% of all households in 2019/2020 to 10% in 2022/23. Our cost of living tracker in October 2024 finds 46% of households in the bottom 40% of incomes were food insecure, most similar to the ‘very food insecure’ measure. Thread of stats:

Dual axis chart, with column showing the proportion of families in food insecurity and line showing the number in millions. It remains high across the period, with 5.4m in food insecurity in October 2024 or 46%.

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Positive news that the 'move-on period' for refugees to leave asylum accommodation has been temporarily extended from 28 to 56 days. This policy drives homelessness and destitution and the extension must be made permanent, beyond June 2025. 1/4

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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

There is a political cost to governments when people feel worse off. @jrf_uk's latest cost of living tracker underlines how urgent the situation for millions of low income households, and how it's set to get worse without political action. 📺find out more 1/2

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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families are up to 5x more likely to be living in severe poverty for a long time compared to white families in the UK 📢 We've carried out new research to understand what these families experience and why they have this elevated risk 1/6

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Maudie Johnson-Hunter @maudiejh.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

@jrf-uk.bsky.social latest cost of living tracker out today shows why living standards must drive Starmer's reset. Hardship remains entirely unchanged, with a warning of worse to come - 7m families going without essentials, including 5.4 without enough food - 4.3m in arrears Thread on findings:

Bar graph showing the number of households going without essentials, including food insecurity and the number on arrears remains completely unchanged between May 2024 and October 2024.

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