Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Households worse off than under Thatcher, ONS figures show

BRITISH households’ outgoings outstripped their income last year for the first time since Margaret Thatcher held power, according to statistics published today.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that, on average, each British household spent £900 more than they received last year.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that the findings, coming in “the same week the Tory government delivered a slap in the face to workers over public-sector pay,” revealed the “disastrous impact of eight years of austerity on the living standards of families.
 
“For the first time in nearly 30 years, we see average household outgoings surpassing incomes,” he noted.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
04/07/26 of Andy Burnham being interviewed by Sky Sports ahead of the Betfred Super League match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool
Cost-of-Living Crisis / 16 July 2026
16 July 2026
The skyline of Canary Wharf in London as the cold snap continues to grip much of the nation, February 14, 2021
Inequality / 14 July 2026
14 July 2026

Trade unions call for windfall tax hike to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills

Coins in a Saltire purse
Features / 7 May 2026
7 May 2026

Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS

A person holding an energy bill
Energy / 10 September 2025
10 September 2025