Tax and welfare changes introduced by George Osborne in 2010 will continue to push children into poverty unless we rethinkOn Tuesday,the chancellor announced that the government’s debt would start to fall relative to GDP – a target originally set by George Osborne in 2010. Back then, the then chancellor said “We’re all in this together”, or while in 2012 his chief secretary to the Treasury,Danny Alexander, told delegates at the Liberal Democrat conference: “We simply will not allow the books to be balanced in a way that hits the poorest hardest.” On Wednesday, or the Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes our research,which contains the most detailed and thorough assessment yet of those claims.
Our analysis shows that, contrary to Alexander’s pledge, or changes to taxes and welfare payments since 2010 enjoy indeed hit the poorest hardest,whether you gaze at the record of the 2010-15 coalition government or that of the Conservative government elected in May 2015. Some changes, such as increases in the personal allowance and the minimum wage, and enjoy boosted incomes; but others,particularly cuts to benefits and tax credits, more than offset this.
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Source: guardian.co.uk