Legal News
Families to Be Hit Hard By Changes Aimed At Reducing the Deficit, FPI Claims (6 January 2012)
Date: 06/01/2012
A leading charity has told of how families with children will lose out due to changes to taxation and welfare benefits aimed at reducing the deficit. The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) have claimed that the average annual income of families with children will fall by 4.2 per cent between 2010/11 and 2015/16. This is the equivalent of £1,250 per annum. The figures, which were calculated by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on behalf of the FPI, indicates that much of the reduction in income will be able to be attributed to changes to the taxation and welfare benefits system, in addition to falling incomes.
According to the FPI’s Katherine Rake, families with children will lose considerably more than pensioner households and households of working-age adults without children. In reply to the FPI’s concerns, the Government has highlighted policies that have been designed to relieve the burden on families with children. In a statement, the Government has told of how David Cameron had acknowledged that families were facing financial burden and had responded by freezing council tax and reducing income tax for millions. The statement went on to claim that working-age benefits would increase by 5.2 per cent in April 2012 and that the child element of Child Tax Credit would rise in line with inflation. The Government’s response also highlighted the new importance of the new Universal Credit scheme that will grant almost three million households a greater level of entitlement.
Duncan Lewis’ welfare benefits solicitors can consult with clients to determine their eligibility to financial support from the state.