Budget 2011

Many low-to-middle earner households are likely to face significant real-term reductions in incomes this year and next. The following case studies are based on four stylised families and illustrate how changes in the Budget and in tax and benefit changes will impact on their household income over the next two years.

David and Josie

David works 35 hours a week, earning £45,000 a year. His wife Josie looks after their three year-old and their two school-age children.

Jack and Laura

Jack and Laura work 42 hours a week between them: Jack earns £28,000 a year and Laura earns £11,000. They have a young baby and a four year-old, both of whom are looked after by a registered childminder while Jack and Laura are at work.

Claire

Claire is a single mother with two children. Her son is 17 and is at college; her daughter is three and attends a nursery while Claire is at work. She works for 32.5 hours a week and earns £28,000.