Most people living in million pound homes tend to be fairly comfortably off, not usually reliant on help from the state to keep the wolf from the door.
But many low-paid cleaners, teaching assistants and clerical workers – lots of whom are UNISON members – are dependent upon tax credits, family, friends, credit cards and even the occasional food bank to get by.
But tomorrow, if media reports are to be believed, better off property owners will soon be able to give away their inheritance without paying a penny in tax, while those in greatest need look set to have their vital tax credits taken away.
In recent months there’s been much talk from the Conservatives of giving people a pay rise, and perhaps raising the national minimum wage or encouraging employers to pay the voluntary living wage, just to show – in case anyone doubted ministers – that they really are on the side of hard-working people.
But the Resolution Foundation points out that the living wage is set at a level (£7.85 nationally and £9.15 in London) that assumes the full take up of in-work benefits. If these were to be cruelly snatched away by the Chancellor tomorrow, it calculates that the living wage in the capital would need to rise to £11.65. And that’s unlikely to happen any time soon.
Let’s not forget there are five million people still earning less than the living wage – many of them working in the UK’s public services. We need a Budget that helps the UK’s lowest paid workers, not one that makes life significantly harder for them.