Families face ‘triple whammy’ hit to finances of over £500 in coming six months, study finds

FAMILIES face a “tripple whammy” hit to their pockets of more than £500 in the coming six months, a study shows.

Households with children could see their income plunge £20 a week resulting from rising living costs, energy price hikes and a fall in income support, research shows.

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The hardest hit in the ‘living squeeze’ will be low and middle income families, the Resolution Foundation say.

Living pressures hitting the country will see inflation hitting 4 per cent over the winter, some utility bills up 12 per cent next month and the end of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

Even wage growth will likely turn negative for many workers as inflation rockets, it says.

A couple with two children, both working full-time and earning slightly above the new NLW would be £23 a week worse off.

The government must change course or face owning the ‘living squeeze’, they say.

Karl Handscomb, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain is about to enter a tight cost of living squeeze over the next six months as high inflation and rising energy bills collide with the Government’s decision to cut benefits and raise taxes.

“Low-and-middle-income families will face the tightest squeeze. Many drivers of high inflation should be short-lived, but that will be of little comfort to families struggling over the coming weeks and months.

“While policies like the National Living Wage will deliver a welcome income boost for some, for many low-income families this won’t come close to offsetting the damage caused by cutting Universal Credit.

“Maintaining the £20 a week uplift will go a long towards easing the coming cost of living squeeze for millions of families.”

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk