Spring Statement: Single mum, pensioner, family and more – here’s what it means for YOU | Personal Finance | Finance

1. A single mum on benefits

According to analysts, the lack of support for people on means-tested benefits was a major omission in today’s budget.

Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, said benefits were going up by a planned 3.1 percent next month at a time when claimants were facing cost of living increases of about 10 percent.

A single mum on benefits won’t benefit from the National Insurance threshold changes, nor will she be able to claim any of the net gains from installing energy-efficient materials to her home – even without the VAT cut, households installing solar panels are looking at an initial cost of £5,000 and over.

The only area in the budget that might ease some of the pressure on the single mum is the increase to the Household Support Fund.

Under the Chancellor’s plans, an extra £500million will go to local councils to “help the most vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities”.

This brings the total Household Support Fund to £1billion, with funds to be used at local councils’ discretion – though 50 percent must be reserved for households with children.

But experts have said this will do little to appease the worries of those struggling the most.

Mr Johnson tweeted: “If £0.5billion is all there is for poorest families paid through local authorities, that will be hugely disappointing. Doesn’t look like benefits being raised.”

And Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank, tweeted: “It’s crazy to only have £0.5billion of support for lower-income households in the face of the biggest cost of living hit for generations – contrast with the £10billion real terms benefit hit they face in the year ahead.”