Coalition strategy on low pay could cost the taxpayer £9 billion more over the next five years if the present Government is re-elected, according to research verified by the House of Commons Library.
The analysis of official figures suggests that would amount to an extra £337 bill for every tax-paying family.
The estimate of social security and tax credit spending by 2020 assumes that previous Treasury forecasts for average earnings growth were over-optimistic to the same extent that they were between 2010 and 2015.
The coalition has presided over the largest fall in wages since the 1870s, with working people on average £1,600 a year worse off than in 2010 and those in full time work £2,000 a year worse off. The number of people earning less than a living wage has rocketed from 3.4 million in 2009-10 to 4.9 million...
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