THIS week The Sun spoke to eight struggling families to see what they wanted from Rishi Sunak’s mini-Budget yesterday – and today we catch up with them to see if he delivered.
The Chancellor unveiled his Spring Statement as Britain battles sky-high energy bills and soaring inflation.
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He announced a mixed bag of handouts and tax squeezes.
The rise of 1.25 percentage points in National Insurance remained, but the threshold at which workers start paying it will be raised from July.
And there was a 5p per litre cut to fuel duty.
Here, we see who stands to gain – and our eight families tell Mike Ridley what it means for them.
NHS WORKER +£322
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AS a doctor’s receptionist, Adrian Marriott earns £18,000 a year, while wife Zoe is paid £4,500 as a cleaner.
The couple, who live in South Normanton, Derbys, will gain £360 a year from the National Insurance threshold being raised to £12,570.
That more than offsets their extra NI payments of £67.87 a year.
They also gain £30 a year on the fuel duty cut.
But Adrian, 33, said: “It won’t make any difference.
“I’m not even sure it will be passed on to motorists.
“Unless you do hundreds of miles every week, it won’t do much good.
“The mini-Budget hasn’t really changed anything, people will still be struggling.
“I’m really disappointed not to see anything on energy prices.
“Increasing the National Insurance threshold will hardly make any difference to those on the lowest wages.”
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UNIVERSAL CREDIT NO CHANGE
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LOUISE MADDISON relies on Universal Credit of £4,000 a year and skips meals to make ends meet.
She volunteers at an arts project to avoid heating her home in Darlington, Co Durham, after her bills hit £160 a month.
There was no help at all for Louise, 50.
She says: “MPs had a £2,200 pay rise last week – that speaks volumes about who they care for.
“They need to keep an eye on their Red Wall voters.
“I’ve just had smart meters fitted. I’m going to be watching every single penny from now on.
“I’m going to be heating with candles when I’ve reached my energy budget
“When my household budget runs out, it’s back to the food banks.
“They’re great but do not provide a healthy diet, they provide a filling diet.
“It’s tins and processed food, white pasta and white bread.”
WIDOW +£43.75
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RETIRED Caroline Duddridge, 62, gets a £10,000 a year civil service widow’s pension and a teaching pension of just £720.
As prices soared she took a part-time teaching assistant’s job, earning £144 a week.
Caroline, of Cardiff, doesn’t earn enough to pay National Insurance but she gains £43 a year from the fuel duty cut.
She says: “I wasn’t expecting much from this budget but at least I’m not worse off.
“With gas and electric all going up I am going to be much poorer in the long-run.
“I have turned the heating off and live under an electric blanket now.
“My son comes round and says, ‘It’s freezing in here’, but it keeps the bills down.
“There are a lot of people worse off than me.
“They are going to be hit hardest in the coming year.”
PENSIONER +£66
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GRANDMA Ronnie Moon can no longer manage on her state pension of £179.60 a week.
The 69-year-old retired teaching assistant, of Wandsworth, South London, is delighted the triple lock – which links pensions to inflation – will return from April 2023.
She said: “It is good news for pensioners, but we’ve got to get through this year with the lower pension increase first.
“Energy bills and food costs are going up and these are desperate times.”
The fuel duty cut will save her £66 a year.
She said: “Saving £3 a tank is better than a slap in the face.
“I’d hate to think petrol prices rise so much it gets to the point where I can’t go and see my ten grandchildren.”
SELF-EMPLOYED +£280
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EVENTS producer Roxy Ozalp has seen her income drop to £19,000 a year because of Covid.
She wanted the Chancellor to continue to support independent workers still struggling after the pandemic.
Roxy, 36, of Haringey, North London, is £280 a year better off because of the National Insurance changes.
She wanted more grants for self-employed workers but instead the Chancellor helped small firms who employ people.
Roxy said: “Self-employed people should not have been excluded just because they cannot employ other people at the moment.”
She also believes Rishi should have cut basic rate income tax from 20 to 19 per cent now, instead of waiting until 2024.
Roxy said: “The stress from rising costs is immediate and now, not in two years.
“Dangling a small positive impact two years away is worse than announcing nothing.”
WORKING FAMILY +£441
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MUM-of-three Jodi Westmacott earns £18,000 a year as a carer, while partner Claire Simmons, an IT worker, earns £37,000.
The couple from Newport, Gwent, will save £162.50 a year on fuel.
And they will each be £360 better off with the National Insurance threshold changes.
But Claire, 37, will pay an extra £374 in NI contributions (losing out by £14), while Jodi will only have to find an extra £67 a year.
Jodi, 30, said: “It’s better than I expected.
“The £441 will make a difference. But it will depend on how much everything is going up.
“The fuel tax doesn’t make a huge difference.
“The way the prices are going up, that discount will be gone in a few days.”
Claire said: “The increase on NI had been announced some time ago so I was expecting it.
“The £14 per year loss is not a lot.
“It’s right those of us on higher salaries bear the brunt so that people on low salaries can get a break.”
SINGLE MUM +£193.26
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SINGLE mum Laura Gregory earns £750 a month as a minimum-wage dental nurse.
Laura, 34, from Gravesend, Kent, also receives £800 a month tax credit and £140 child benefit for daughter Summer, 16, and son Rossy, nine.
She will have an extra £155.76 after the National Living Wage went up 59p an hour to £9.50, plus she will save £37.50 a year on fuel.
Laura said: “It is going to make a real difference but everything else is going up at the same time, so we’ll just end up in the same boat.
“It sometimes just feels like we’re surviving, not living.
“I’ve got a credit card ready as a back up.
“If it wasn’t for Covid and the Government spending so much money to support us, I’d have wanted more.”
TWO-JOBS WORKER +£186
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TAKEAWAY deli manager Jane Srachompu is having to take a second job to fight rising costs.
Single Jane, 46, earns £26,500 but she also plans to work two nights as a waitress.
Jane, of Merton, South London, gains £360 on the National Insurance threshold rise but will pay an extra £174 because of the 1.25 percentage points increase in contributions.
She said: “If Rishi Sunak really ‘gets it’, he would have cancelled the NI rate rise as well.”
Jane, who pays £550 rent and £140 bills per month for her shared flat, says the income tax reduction should have kicked in from this April, not in two years.
She added: “The time people need help is now.
“Money is a big weight on my mind.
“My gas bill has just arrived – but I’m not going to open the envelope until I get paid.”
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