There is bleak outlook for living standards

The recession that started more than three years ago has taken some time to impact on household income, but the pain has only been postponed and not avoided. The UK recently experienced its worst recession for over 60 years, during which GDP fell by over 6% between the first quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009. We would expect this fall in national income to have stark consequences for UK households' living standards. Recent research from the IFS has looked in detail at changes in the distribution of net income in the UK between 2007-08 (the financial year in which the recession began) and 2010-11 (the last complete financial year), as part of a cross-national study which places the UK experience in an international context.