Personal Income

(asked on 8th March 2018) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page two of Walking on Thin Ice: the cost of financial insecurity, published by Citizens Advice on 22 February 2018, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on the proportion of adults (a) who had at least one monthly drop in their income and (b) with unpredictable incomes who have gone without food or other essentials.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 16th March 2018

The Government is aware that making ends meet is sometimes challenging, which is why we are proactively putting in place measures to help the most vulnerable.

The lowest earners have seen a 7% real-terms increase to their wages since 2015, thanks to policies such as the National Living Wage (NLW). Full time NLW workers will receive another £600 pay rise next month.

The Government-commissioned Money Advice Service’s Financial Capability Strategy specifically focuses on measures to encourage saving. To help this work, we are creating a help to save scheme – giving families on low incomes up to a £600 Government bonus to build a rainy day fund.

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