Budget leaves household incomes stagnant

The Budget has succeeded in boosting employment but has left household incomes stagnant according to the Resolution Foundation.

The Chancellor announced an impressively broad suite of policies to encourage more people into work, but Britain’s economy remains stuck in a deep funk – with people supported into work but getting poorer, and paying more tax but seeing public services cut, the Resolution Foundation said.

The Foundation’s Budget analysis report – We’re going on a growth Hunt – examines the economic backdrop to Budget 2023, and assesses whether the Chancellor has successfully delivered on his central objective of boosting growth through higher employment and business investment.

Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said “Jeremy Hunt’s first Budget was a much bigger affair than many expected, combining improvements to the dire economic and fiscal outlook with a significant policy package aimed at boosting longer-term growth in general, and the size of the workforce in particular. A step change in childcare support stands out.”

“But stepping back the UK’s underlying challenges remain largely unchanged. We are investing too little and growing too slowly. Our citizens’ living standards are stagnant. We ask them to pay higher taxes, while cutting public services. No one Budget could turn that around, but it’s time Britain did.”