A salary of around £71,000 a year is now needed to match the benefits income for some bigger families, a think-tank has warned.
Calculations from the Centre for Social Justice have laid bare the impact of Labour’s decision to axe the two-child cap.
Rachel Reeves has been trumpeting the £3 billion a year move in the Budget, insisting it will slash child poverty.
A family with one adult full-time and one part-time worker would take home roughly £28,000 after tax, according to the estimates.
But that is £18,000 less than the welfare income now available to an equivalent three-child family outside work on combined benefits.
The CSJ – chaired by Tory former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith – said: “Matching that level of support through earnings alone would require a pre-tax salary of around £71,000.”
The split for single parents is even starker, the think-tank’s report said.
A parent with children on combined benefits would be expected to receive roughly £38,000 per year. That could rise to £43,000 if the adult themselves is receiving health benefits, according to the CSJ.
That is some £22,000 more than the take-home pay from a full-time job on £20,600....<<<Read More>>>...