It warns that without ‘charting a new course’, the 2020s could become a ‘second lost decade’ with the ‘gulf between political rhetoric and household reality widening’.
The JRF says relative to post-tax earnings, essentials will continue to be less affordable than they were in 2021 until 2029. At the same time, the cost of housing for the average family will have risen by £1,700 a year in real terms over the same period.
Without changes being implemented in the Budget on Wednesday (6 March), the analysis suggests household earnings from work after tax will be £1,900 a year lower on average than they were at the beginning of the decade (2021).
It estimates that a basket of essential items, excluding housing, for the average family is still £270 a year higher compared with the start of 2021.
In the Budget on 6 March, JRF is calling on the Government to:
- Extend the Household Support Fund, so that families facing hardship, hunger, and unexpected costs are able to get the help they need in their communities. It is currently due to end on 31 March despite high levels of need.
- Embed an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ into Universal Credit to ensure everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford the essentials.
'Without intervention, the 2020s are set to see an unprecedented second lost decade of living standards'.
Alfie Stirling, chief economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said, ‘Unless policy makers intervene, the 2020s are set to see an unprecedented second lost decade of living standards in a row. As an economy, as a society and as a country, we simply can’t afford this to happen.
‘These findings should trouble us all, and the priority now must be to make sure it does not come to pass.
‘With the Budget just days away, renewed political energy and policy bravery is needed urgently to avert a second period of unthinkable decline.’