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Families with children will lose an average of £511 a year from changes to tax, benefits and tax credits being introduced from tomorrow (Friday), according to new figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The analysis follows last month's Budget and is on top of tax rises already introduced, like last year's VAT rise which is costing a family with children an average of £450 per year.
New government figures obtained by Scottish Labour also show that 84,670 Scottish families are set to lose all of their Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit from tomorrow; 2400 of them in Dundee.
- Over 73,000 families on modest and middle incomes will lose all of their Child Tax Credit – worth around £545 per year.
- And up to 11,000 working couples earning less than around £17,000 per year will lose all of their Working Tax Credit – worth up to £3,870 per year – if they cannot increase their working hours.
Figures also uncovered by Labour reveal that, following tomorrow's changes to working tax credit, a couple with two children on the minimum wage will be better off quitting their jobs if they cannot work at least 19 hours per week.
The IFS figures also show that government policies mean pensioners will be an average of £316 a year worse off from April 2014 once cuts to their allowances announced in last month’s Budget – what has been dubbed the 'granny tax' – have kicked in.
Councillor Laurie Bidwell, said:
"Life is tough for households and families, and from tomorrow it is going to get a whole lot tougher for 2400 of them in Dundee.
These cuts to benefits will put a further strain on 2400 households incomes in Dundee. The citizens affected will no doubt feel that they are swimming against the tide as they try to put food on the table and keep debts from mounting.
After the optimism of the Economic Summit in Dundee last week, we are being brought right back down to earth. The negative economic effect of these cuts to benefits will be felt in our shops and businesses and of course in the lives of the claimants living on reduced incomes.
I think this means that the services provided by our Welfare Rights agencies in the city will be even more in demand. I hope these agencies have the capacity to help the rising tide of people in our city living on lower incomes and trying to keep their debts from spiralling out of control. That is why I recently insisted that the Council undertake an analysis of the capacity of these agencies to cope.
It tells you everything you need to know about David Cameron and George Osborne that while millionaires are getting a tax cut, they are making life even harder for many low income households
Gone is the talk of 'we're all in this together'. This empty slogan has been exposed by the reality of the coalition's policies.
Scotland cannot afford to be stuck between a Tory government whose policies aren’t working, and an SNP government whose policies are making unemployment rise faster in Scotland than the rest of the UK."
Notes
Figures by constituency boundaries for Scotland can be found here, from p 26 onwards.
In addition, 11,350 families in Scotland will lose all their Working Tax Credit if they cannot increase their working hours to the new minimum of 24 hours per week. Figures by constituency, obtained by Cathy Jamieson MP, can be found here: http://www.parliament.uk/
