Most don't feel better off after Budget - poll

PA

Most Brits are not optimistic the Budget will ease their financial pain, according to a survey.

Despite the Chancellor raising personal tax allowance to £10,000, introducing childcare support and freezing planned fuel duty rises, only 18% of people say they are better off as a result of the Budget.

The poll of more than 3,700 adults by MoneySupermarket found a staggering 58% don't feel the Budget has left them better off.

The findings mirror a recent MoneySupermarket report which found that over three-quarters of consumers (76%) say they have limited their household spending in the past 12 months. 

More than a third (38%) said they had cut back their spending on necessities in the last year and nearly two-thirds (65%) said they had cut back on luxury purchases.

One in 10 (11%) of those who say have cut back also said they had skipped meals to make sure their kids are fed. Nearly one in five (17%) said they had not paid energy or credit card bills. 

Clare Francis, editor-in-chief of MoneySupermarket, said the Government needed to do more to help families by addressing rising energy, food and fuel costs.

"Household finances are taking a battering from all sides at the moment, and while the Government may seem to be giving with one hand, they are also taking away with the other through other tax increases and benefit cuts," she said.

"This means that people are no better off, and as our poll shows, people are feeling this. In fact, the cumulative effect of this and previous budget changes, combined with wage stagnation and rising living costs means millions are worse off and an increasing number of families are on the breadline, struggling to make ends meet every month."