A freeze on working-age benefits would push 400,000 children into poverty, new research has found.
Ahead of the Autumn Statement, the Treasury is reportedly considering cutting working-age benefits in real terms next April.
Research by Resolution Foundation found that freezing the benefit rates would save the Treasury up to £4.2bn – but the think-tank has said this would come at a ‘terrible cost’.
The incomes of 45% (nine million) of working-age households would be affected, falling by an average of £470.
This would push up to 400,000 children into absolute poverty, the think-tank found.
Resolution Foundation has warned that the poorer half of the population are already on track to see their disposable income fall by around 1% next year, pushing 300,000 people into absolute poverty.
Resolution Foundation research director Lindsay Judge said: ‘At a time when the incomes of the poorest half of the population are already set to fall next year, failing to uprate working-age benefits in line with prices would be hard to defend, deepening a cost-of-living crisis that is already hitting low- and middle-income households the hardest.’
