Nearly half of all children will be living in families forced to make cutbacks this spring, like putting food on the table or replacing clothes and shoes.
A new report by the New Economics Foundation underlines the devastating impact the looming cost of living crisis will have on youngsters, with a third of households – 23.4 million people – forecast by April to be unable to afford the cost of living by £8,600 a year.
The figure includes nearly half (48%) of all children, almost all (96%) of children living in families out of work, eight in 10 (77%) in single-parent households, and four in 10 (43%) in working families.
The research uses the Minimum Income Standard (MIS), which measures living standards based on need and is used to calculate the ‘real’ Living Wage paid by companies like Ikea and KPMG, and football clubs like West Ham, Liverpool and Everton.
The NEF analysis predicts 43% of families in the North East will be living below the minimum income threshold from April, as well as 41% in Yorkshire and the Humber, 39% in the West Midlands and 38% in London.
The report says that people in the North East will miss out on a good standard of living by £8,900 a year, and in the West Midlands and London by £10,100. Couples with children will miss out on a good standard of living by £9,600 a year and single parents by £8,700 on average.
The pressure on household budgets will force parents to make sacrifices, like buying new clothes and food.
The think tank is calling for a minimum income floor and for the government to invest an additional £7bn in Universal Credit, to include restoring the £20 uplift.
It comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak comes under increasing pressure to do more to help families in his Spring Statement on March 23, as energy prices and inflation bite. Fears are growing that the cost of Russian sanctions following the crisis in Ukraine will also hit household incomes hard.
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Sam Tims, economist at the New Economics Foundation, said: “The cost of living is increasing faster than at any point in recent history. While all families are set to feel a squeeze come April, the lowest income households will be hit proportionately harder.
“But the cost of living is only a crisis when people cannot afford it and government support must be able to flexibly respond to this. There is little time left for the chancellor to take action to avert the worst real-terms incomes squeeze in 50 years.”
Labour's Jonathan Ashworth said: “It’s shameful so many children are now growing up in poverty and insecurity under the Tories, in households unable to afford basic essentials.
“Twelve years of Tory economic mismanagement have given us surging inflation, rocketing heating bills, punishing tax rises and two huge cuts to Universal Credit within six months. In response, all Rishi Sunak is offering is a ‘buy now pay later’ loan."