UK households have paid almost \u00a314,000 on average in additional costs for mortgages, loans, energy and water bills over the past five years, according to a report urging the chancellor to tackle soaring living costs at the budget.<\/p>\n
With less than a fortnight before John Healey\u2019s first budget as chancellor, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the cost of living crisis was weighing on the economy as hard-pressed households held back on spending.<\/p>\n
Urging the chancellor to support households through a series of measures in the budget, it said the UK had recorded the weakest growth in consumer spending in the G7 since before the pandemic.<\/p>\n
According to analysis of official figures by the union umbrella body, British households have forked out an additional \u00a313,961 on bills on average since 2021 \u2013 an extra \u00a32,792 a year \u2013 amid soaring inflation triggered by the exit from the Covid pandemic and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Paul Nowak, the TUC<\/a> general secretary, said: \u201cFrom austerity to the pandemic to energy shocks and Trumpflation, working people have borne the brunt of crisis after crisis. When the crackpots in the White House or the Kremlin launch an illegal war, everyone pays the price in their bills.\u201d<\/p>\n In his speech at Labour\u2019s conference in Liverpool<\/a>, Healey pledged to use his 28 October budget to give households \u201cbreathing space\u201d. However, he warned that the government had limited resources to soften the global economic shock hitting Britain.<\/p>\n Against a volatile backdrop, the Treasury has been preparing for a \u201ctightly focused\u201d budget<\/a> to limit the potential for a market backlash provoked by large tax and spending measures. The International Monetary Fund this week urged Healey to \u201cstay the course\u201d<\/a> to cut the budget deficit amid rising borrowing costs in global financial markets.<\/p>\n The chancellor is however under growing pressure to take action to support households and businesses before the winter amid predictions that consumer energy bills could reach \u00a32,000 a year from January<\/a> for the typical household.<\/p>\n After retail industry bosses pressed Healey for support in Downing Street meetings on Tuesday, the Confederation of British Industry said he should listen to calls for a cut in employer national insurance contributions to encourage firms to take on younger workers.<\/p>\n The lobby group also called for cuts to business electricity costs, changes to business rates and measures to support private investment.<\/p>\n In a separate report, the centre-left IPPR thinktank urged Healey to raise \u00a316bn, mostly through a rise in capital gains tax that would be softened by a new entrepreneur \u201csuper exemption\u201d.<\/p>\n