The Resolution Foundation has published a report finding that typical household disposable incomes for working-age families are likely to fall by 3 per cent this financial year, and by 4 per cent next year, with the two-year cost-of-living increase set to leave families £2,100 worse off and only the very richest households seeing their incomes rise. The Foundation’s annual Living Standards Outlook 2023 uses data from a new YouGov survey of 10,470 adults to assess how people are coping with the cost-of-living crisis this winter and looks ahead to how the scale and nature of the crisis will evolve in the future.

The report finds that 23 per cent of adults (equivalent to 12 million people in total) said they could not afford to replace or repair major electrical goods (e.g. fridges, washing machines) (up from 8 per cent pre-pandemic), while 11 per cent (equivalent to six million people) said that they were hungry but did not eat because of a lack of money in the past month (compared with 5 per cent pre-pandemic).

The report shows however that Government support has responded well to the nature of the cost-of-living crisis, by rightly prioritising support at those most in need.

For the report, click here. For the key findings, click here. For the press release by the Resolution Foundation, click here. For the response of the Local Government Association, urging the government to make the Household Support Fund permanent, click here. For details of new research by Citizens Advice showing that ‘a third of UK adults are just £20 away from falling into crisis’, click here.