These measures would give social security a much needed boost, support the economy, and go a long way in protecting children's living standards

Improvements of this scale are urgently needed. Families with children saw unprecedented reductions in their income last parliament and could do so again given the poor economic outlook

On its own, scrapping the two-child limit would lift around 300k children out of relative poverty. But 140k kids are already impacted by the two-child limit and the benefit cap So pairing up with a protected minimum floor would overall reduce child poverty by 500k in 2029/30

The average couple with kids is projected to lose £750 a year (1.3%) over the parliament. These two changes would reduce that by a third Lone parent families would be even better supported. Rather than losing 3.0% of income (£780) they would instead be £320 a year better off

In new @jrf_uk analysis with @KatieSchmuecker we show how cost-effective improvements to social security can quickly improve the living standards outlook for families Scrapping the two-child limit and creating an income floor in Universal Credit would make a real difference

For the full write-up of the analysis from @chrisbelfield, @StatsPeter, and myself see the link below https://t.co/zj9O70uBpK

But these projections can also be downgraded As my colleague @chrisbelfield points out, lower productivity growth will make us poorer https://t.co/57RlAeDaNI

Our estimates of living standards are based on the latest OBR and BoE projections for the economy. This data can and will change over the parliament as the economic and policy landscape changes The more Government does now to improve incomes the better the outlook will be

Working-age households will fare worse than pensioners, driven in part by very different experiences of social security Where over 65s will receive £270 more from social security, households headed by someone aged 35 - 64 will receive £150 less. For U35s the loss is £240

We project that the average real disposable income will be 1.3% (£550) lower in September 2029 than in 2024 Low-income households are set to lose the greatest proportion of their income - 2.7% lower than in 2024, leaving their income 6.2% (£1,110) lower than in 2019

Analysis from @jrf_uk this week suggests this could be the worst parliament for living standards since detailed records began This doesn't have to be the case, but clearly more needs to be done to boost household incomes and ensure every family can afford the essentials

Over 1.6m children are now impacted by the Two-Child Limit - 11.6% of all children This is a cruel policy that unnecessarily drags children into hardship It needs to go, and the longer it is kept, the greater the scarring effects on children's health and education will be

Ahead of a crucial vote on cuts to disability benefits, our new evidence casts doubt on whether jobs are even available for disabled people facing cuts 📢 The analysis found that the parts of the country among the hardest hit by the cuts have fewer job opportunities 1/3

This analysis is one part of a forthcoming report from myself, @AhlbergMeri, and Fran Ladouch That report makes the wider argument that these cuts are not the way to help disabled people into work, resulting instead in far greater hardship

Employers in more affluent areas are more likely to encourage applications from disabled people, with 1 disability confident role for every 47 people on UC-Health In ex-industrial areas this rises to 1 for every 333 people - a staggering gap that the cuts will do nothing to help

There is just 1 disability confident vacancy for every 121 people on UC-Health nationwide, this is clearly not enough Local disparities for all job adverts are amplified for disability confident roles, with the greatest competition in some areas likely hardest hit by the cuts

This is not a perfect comparison. Not everyone has the skills or experience for every job and not everyone on UC-Health can work (although all are impacted by the cuts) But we can ask how ready local employers are to hire and support disabled staff

Nationally, there is 1 job for every 7 people on Universal Credit searching for work or unable to because of a health condition This varies substantially by the strength of an area's economy. In ex-industrial areas there is twice as much competition among this group

The Government should cancel the cuts and rethink their approach Rather than help disabled people into work, these reforms will likely be looked back upon as a disastrous method by which the Government will have impoverished the very people it aims to help into work

Much of the Government's intention for cutting PIP and UC is to motivate people to find a job But cutting social security can't 'incentivise' people into jobs that don't exist New @jrf_uk analysis shows there are simply too few jobs for the Government's argument to hold