Comment
Household incomes have fared very badly in the decade since the financial crisis. In 2015-16 (the latest data available), real median income in the UK was only 3.7% higher than it was at the start of the recession (2007-08) - usually incomes grow by around 2% each year. And new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that if the government sticks to planned tax and benefit reforms, and the latest Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) macroeconomic forecast is right, that slow growth is likely to continue - averaging just 0.8% per year between 2015-16 and 2021-22.