News - June 2012

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29 Jun 12

Commission on Living Standards release figures on inequality

The Commission on Living Standards hosted by the Resolution Foundation has released figures relating to living standards in the UK, using numbers from 1975 up to 2010. These figures show that over the last two generations the poorest people have been increasing their earnings at a lower rate than...

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29 Jun 12

Shelter release repossession ‘hot spot’ map

Homeless charity Shelter has compiled an interactive map showing the stark regional disparity in terms of how likely houses are to be repossessed. The charity claims there is a strong link between repossession hotspots and rising unemployment.

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29 Jun 12

Unite survey suggests member’s pay can’t cover cost of living

A survey of 350,000 Unite members suggests that 82% are unable to make their wages last for the whole month, with 12% being forced to resort to payday loans to cover the period.

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29 Jun 12

Families to be £7,000 worse off by 2015

A House of Commons study has revealed that over the lifespan of the coalition government families will have 1,700 a year less than they did in 2010, this figure is already at 800 and is set to more than double in the next three years.

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29 Jun 12

Credit Unions to receive funding boost to expand services

The Department for Work and Pensions has announced this week that it will provide credit unions with a 38m investment over the next three years to modernise and expand the sector.

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21 Jun 12

The Money Advice Service grilled by Treasury Select Committee

The Money Advice Service (MAS) and Financial Services Authority (FSA) gave their verbal evidence to the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday the 20th of june. The Select Committee have been active in holding the Money advice Service to account. They recently ran a consultation investigating...

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20 Jun 12

Banks to raise overdraft rates and fees

Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland customers can expect to see overdraft fees increase by as much as 5% from October following a similar announcement from Halifax.

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20 Jun 12

Nowhere to go for tenants who face re-housing

Near 100,000 tenants have received letters informing them that they are under-occupying and will be forced to move to smaller housing or face having their housing benefits cut.

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19 Jun 12

JRF research shows ‘no couple penalty’ in tax system

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that any couples penalty in the tax and benefits system is a myth. The report sought to answer the question as to whether there was a financial incentive for couples to live separately (couples penalty), or whether in real terms they were...

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19 Jun 12

Home ownership at least £200,000 cheaper than renting over a lifetime

Research by Barclays claims that 200,000 extra is a conservative estimate for the amount that people who are locked out of buying a house will have to pay for a lifetime of renting.

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19 Jun 12

IFS Study Shows Largest Fall In Living Standards For 50 Years

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has released its report Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK which claims that the poor have undoubtedly been getting worse off in absolute terms, on average.

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15 Jun 12

Child Poverty figures drop as median income decline

Figures released by the DWP on Thursday, show that the number of children living below the poverty line has fallen, but still remains over 2 million, this is despite the median income levels falling.