Average family to be '£1,400 worse off' by 2030, study finds
23 March 2025, 08:15
The average family is set to be £1,400 a year worse off by 2030, a new study shows.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Amid rising mortgages, soaring rent costs, falling real earnings and the decision to freeze tax thresholds, Brits will seemingly be noticeably worse off in five years time.
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), those living on the lowest incomes will also see their living standards drop by twice as much compared to middle and high-earning Birts.
New data by JRF indicates the government is set to miss out on one of its main goals, raising living standards across the UK by the next election.
But this £1,400 drop in cash by April 2030 will mark a 3% drop in disposable income for most families.
Read more: Rachel Reeves takes axe to Civil Service: Government departments to make £2billion cuts
Labour set to announce biggest cuts 'since austerity': Is Keir Starmer a hypocrite?
This data was collected before the government announced plans to cut £5 billion in disability benefits.
JRF said it used a YouGov study of 5,000 people as well as Bank of England predictions to find its conclusions.
It comes as Rachel Reeves is poised to order the civil service to slash more than £2 billion a year from its budget by the end of the decade as part of the Government's spending review.
The Cabinet Office will order departments to cut their administrative budgets by 15%, which is expected to make £2.2 billion in savings a year by 2029-30.
They will first be asked to reduce budgets by 10% by 2028-29 in a bid to save £1.5 billion a year, which the head of the FDA union said equates to nearly 10% of the salary bill for the civil service.
Administrative budgets include HR, policy advice and office management rather than frontline services. Departments will receive instructions in a letter from Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden in the coming week, The Telegraph reported.
A Cabinet Office source said: "To deliver our Plan for Change we will reshape the state so it is fit for the future. We cannot stick to business as usual.
"By cutting administrative costs we can target resources at frontline services - with more teachers in classrooms, extra hospital appointments and police back on the beat."
