{"id":389179,"date":"2026-01-03T14:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T14:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/389179\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T14:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T14:57:22","slug":"poorest-have-got-poorer-under-labour-while-the-richest-are-better-off-stark-new-figures-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/389179\/","title":{"rendered":"Poorest have got poorer under Labour while the richest are better off, stark new figures show"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The poorest households in Britain have become poorer while the rich have seen their disposable income rise under Labour<\/a>, new figures show. <\/p>\n

The amount the poorest households have left over after bills and essential spending has fallen by 2.1 per cent since Labour came to power in July 2024,<\/a> data from Retail Economics shows. But the most affluent households have seen their discretionary incomes rise by 10.3 per cent. <\/p>\n

The figures come as a blow to Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> as he prepares to put tackling the cost of living<\/a> at the centre of his new year message to voters and his own MPs<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Sir<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Sir Keir says \u2018positive change\u2019 will be felt in the new year (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

The findings come as Sir Keir has pledged to \u201cwage all-out war\u201d on the soaring cost of living. <\/p>\n

With Labour still trailing Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK in the polls and set to suffer heavy losses in May\u2019s local elections, the PM is expected to highlight measures such as recent cuts to energy costs, due to take effect in April, and the abolition of the controversial two-child benefit cap at an event on Monday as ways the party is helping voters. <\/p>\n

In a new year message in the Daily Mirror, he wrote: \u201cLate last year I was handed a note by a Scottish girl, aged just nine years old. She had written to me to explain all the ways that poverty<\/a> can impact children. The hunger from missing breakfast. The cold of unheated rooms. The embarrassment of a worn-through school uniform. The tiredness and exhaustion that comes with all of it. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, it was moving to see such perception from a child. And shocking to think that the vast majority of children growing up in poverty in Britain today come from working families.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThat\u2019s why this year we will lift over half a million children out of poverty. By scrapping the two-child limit on child benefit. Expanding free school meals to half a million hungry children. And by waging an all-out war on the cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Less<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Less well-off households have seen the amount of money they have left over after bills and essential spending drop (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

In a new year video, he also predicted that the UK would \u201cturn a corner\u201d in 2026 and that people would begin to feel \u201ca sense of hope\u201d in the coming months despite a slew of negative economic headlines in recent months.<\/a><\/p>\n

On the latest figures, Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform, told the Telegraph Labour had \u201clost control\u201d over the cost of living. <\/p>\n

Graham Stringer, the Labour MP for Blackley and Middleton South, said: \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing, but it\u2019s not surprising given that our energy policy subsidises the affluent middle class via subsidies to expensive cars, to heat pumps, to other things, and increases the size of the bills for poorer people.\u201d <\/p>\n

The new figures from Retail Economics, an independent economic consultancy, look at discretionary income, which is how much money families have left after spending on essentials. <\/p>\n

Nicholas Found, from the group, said: \u201cThe reality is that lower-income families are still grappling with the legacy of surging prices, with finances playing catch-up as the cost of everyday products is significantly higher than it was four years ago.\u201d <\/p>\n

The figures include changes in tax and some bills which are not captured by official figures from the Office for National Statistics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-389179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}