Hard times

Lots of really interesting stories around today, the relentless evidence of the times getting harder for people on modest incomes.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation are reporting that an average household pre-tax-and-benefit income fell over 7% between 2007-08 and 2010-11, after accounting for inflation, as rising unemployment and the recession took their toll.

There is real evidence that young people are struggling to get onto the housing ladder, this is caused by, by record levels of student debt, low levels of interest on savings and stagnant wages ... mean that the government is sitting on a housing time bomb.

Almost 7 million working-age adults are living in extreme financial stress, one small push from penury, despite being in employment and largely independent of state support, these 3.6m British households have little or no savings, nor equity in their homes, and struggle at the end of each month to feed themselves and their children adequately.

The households in trouble include couples without children who earn a gross annual income of between £12,000 and £29,000, or couples with two children on between £17,000 and £41,000.


The stagnating economy, increasing unemployment, rising prices, falling incomes and cuts to public services – 88% of which lie ahead over the next four years – meant things would get worse for those on low incomes


These seven million people who work hard, do the right thing for their families

and expect that a fair society that rewards effort and where work pays, these people have seen their incomes reduced, living costs increased and new taxes and some benefit cuts.

If proof was needed that austerity was grinding ordinary decent hard working people over the edge this evidence proves it.

We've seen a double dip recession made in Downing street, this is not merely statistics it is delivering real damage to people lives, this out of touch, incompetent government needs to change economic tack, if they don't the social damage will be huge.