WIREDGOV

Ashwin Kumar, Chief Economist at the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation, commented on yesterday’s inflation figures 

“Falling wages and frozen benefits mean that many families will struggle to find the money to keep up with rising inflation. Yesterday’s update means that a family of four on the minimum wage will be £500 worse off every year due to the benefit freeze.

“The cost of basic essentials is rising even faster than the headline inflation figure: food is up 4.1% and energy 6.4% in the last year.  This means people on lower incomes are being hit particularly hard as they need to use more of their income to cover these costs.

“The benefits freeze was a policy introduced at a time of zero inflation.  The Government should help struggling families by ending the freeze and keeping benefits in line with the rising cost of living.”

UK consumer price inflation : November 2017