A report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has established that the impact of changes to all tax, social security and public spending reforms are hitting the poorest and the disabled most of all. Their conclusions are based on decisions taken between 2010 to 2017 and the effects they will have on people by 2022.
Families with a disabled adult will see a £2,500 reduction of income per year (this is £1,000 for non-disabled families)
Families with a disabled adult and a disabled child will face a £5,500 reduction per year (again, compared to £1,000 for non-disabled families)
Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said, “The report is clear evidence that the government’s reforms have been having a massive negative effect, driving disabled people deeper into poverty when they already don’t have enough money to live on.”
Undertaken as a ‘cumulative impact assessment’, the report, which looks at the impact the reforms have had on various groups across society, suggested the decisions will also affect some groups more than others.
Black households will face a 5% loss of income (more than double the loss for white households).
Families with a disabled adult will see a £2,500 reduction of income per year (This is £1,000 for non-disabled families)
Families with a disabled adult and a disabled child will face a £5,500 reduction of income per year (again, compared to £1,000 for non-disabled families)
Lone parents will struggle with a 15% loss of income (the losses for all other family groups are between 0 and 8%)
And women will suffer a £940 annual loss
David Issac, the Chair of the Commission, which is responsible for making recommendations to Government on the compatibility of policy and legislation with equality and human rights, warned of a “bleak future.”
He said, “The Government cannot claim to be working for everyone if its policies actually make the most disadvantaged people in society financially worse off. We have encouraged the Government to carry out this work for some time, but sadly they have refused. We have shown that it is possible to carry out cumulative impact assessments and we call on them to do this ahead of the 2018 budget.
If we want a prosperous and, in line with the Prime Minister’s vision, a fair Britain that works for everyone, the Government must come clean and provide a full and cumulative impact analysis of all current and future tax and social security policies. It is not enough to look at the impact of individual policy changes. If this doesn’t happen those most in need will face an extremely bleak future.”