A leading charity has urged Chancellor George Osborne to ‘halt the erosion of family benefits’, ahead of tomorrows Autumn Statement.
Analysis of Autumn Statements this Parliament by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) reveals the extent to which low-income families have lost out.
- The value of child benefit and child tax credit have fallen by 13% and 8.5% respectively simply as a result of uprating decisions over this Parliament (see figures below); any further erosion would turn the screw on many working and non-working parents.
- Child Benefit has lost 13% of its value over the course of this parliament because of uprating decisions. This is equivalent to a loss of £543 of support over the five years for a one child family, £900 for a two-child.
- The children’s element of Child Tax Credit has lost 8.5% of its value compared to what it would be worth if the government had uprated it by CPI and over-indexed as promised in the 2010 budget. This is equivalent to a loss of £1,140 over the course of the parliament for a one-child family, and £2104 for a two child family.