Response to the summer budget

In response to Today’s Budget , David Holmes CBE, Chair of the End Child Poverty coalition, said:

“The good news on the minimum wage will help many but the bad news on tax credits and children’s benefits will mean families with children will be hit hard.  It is difficult to see how this will not impact on levels of child poverty.

“The decision to limit tax credits to two children conflicts with the Government’s own child poverty strategy which emphasises the higher poverty risks facing large families. Families come in all shapes and sizes, and surely we owe all children the same level of support?

“Today’s Budget means that over the next five years an extra £46 billion will be taken from social security spending. This is a huge cut and much of it from working families.  The biggest cuts are to in-work benefits and tax credits: some  £20 billion is being saved by lowering the amount people can earn before benefits start to be withdrawn and by increasing the rate at which in work tax credits are withdrawn as they earn more.”