Cost-of-living support needed but where is the money going to come from?

The Chancellor’s upcoming Budget is going to require not only fiscal prudence but also bold decisions that help ease the burden on families that continue to be squeezed by the cost-of-living crisis.

A study by the Resolution Foundation found the UK had suffered the equivalent of 13 years of “normal" inflation in just five, thanks to the fallout from the pandemic and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The past five years have left households £2,900 worse off than they otherwise would have been.

The fact that credit card defaults increased in the three months to the end of August, according to a Bank of England survey of lenders, is another indication of the financial pressures people are under.

Even families that have tried to manage through the past five years by being frugal are increasingly gasping for air.

The Prime Minister pledged to give these families “breathing space”. However, that is easier said and done when borrowing costs are skyrocketing.

Therefore a Liz Truss-style universal package of support has to be out of the question. The political problem then is who gets additional support and who misses out.

Fewer and fewer households feel as if they have financial wriggle room to cope with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis.