Shock, the spring budget is of no benefit to millennials and Gen Z
Jeremy Hunt has said the UK will avoid recession this year in his spring budget announcement, saying the economy is “on the right track.” But this is the Tories, after all, so, of course, millennials and Gen Z will still be heavily affected by the budget and continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis.
The chancellor said: “We remain vigilant, and will not hesitate to take whatever steps are necessary for economic stability. “Today, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that because of changing international factors and the measures I take, the UK will not enter a technical recession this year.”
It was revealed a typical household’s energy bills will remain at around £2,500 a year because of the extension of the energy price guarantee – so our energy bills aren’t going up (technically). But the energy rebate is set to end this month for the majority of households. This was a £400 discount on energy bills spread over the winter months, and the end of that will massively impact households for whom it has been a lifeline.
National Energy Action chief executive Adam Scorer says this will mean “households will be £67 a month worse off. Energy bills from April will be higher than they’ve ever been during the crisis. “There will be 7.5 million UK households in fuel poverty – up from 6.7 million. The cost of a warm and safe home is still out of reach for millions.”
With young people already struggling not only to heat their homes but pay rent and afford groceries and other essentials, the added expenditure is incredibly demoralising.
The chancellor’s budget was “dressing up stagnation as stability,” Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said, claiming it put the country “on a path of managed decline.” Working people who were earning less under the Tories deserved better than “cheap tricks from government gimmicks,” Starmer went on, as he attacked Mr Hunt’s measures. Opportunities had been missed for a proper windfall tax, and working people were being made to pay for Tory mistakes, he said.
