TUC warns of fall in living standards

A tTYPICAL family will see their living standards fall by more than £4,600 a year by 2013 because of public service cuts, benefit changes and below-inflation pay rises, the TUC has warned.

A report, Unhappy Families, said an average-income single parent, living in London with two children, will see their salary reduced by 10 per cent.

The study, published ahead of next week’s TUC Congress, warned that living standards had fallen more than at any time since the 1970s.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “People should be angry at the effect that the crash and Government policies are having. The wrong people are paying the price for what went wrong over 30 years and the coalition’s naive belief that they can put right the damage in just four years.

“As experts worry about a double-dip recession it is time to change course to invest in jobs, growth and getting the economy moving.”