As Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her first financial statement on 30 October, the stakes couldn’t be higher. After 14 years in opposition, Labour is back in power and for the first time in British history, a woman will carry the famous red box from 11 Downing Street to the House of Commons to present the budget. But this is about more than just symbolism. Reeves’ budget will represent a critical moment: will the first female chancellor deliver on her promise to reshape the economy to work for women?
A new report published this week by feminist economics think tank the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) reveals the devastating toll that the last 14 years have taken on women, with disabled women, poor women, Black, Asian and ethnic minority women and single mums taking the biggest hit in living standards.
- I’ve never known a government to renege on election promises as quickly as this one
- Labour urged against return to austerity as Keir Starmer warns of ‘painful’ autumn budget
There is no doubt that Rachel Reeves faces a monumental challenge. The financial legacy she has inherited is far from ideal. But as millions of families across the UK know, the damage goes far deeper than balance sheets. Fourteen years of austerity, under both Coalition and Conservative governments, have torn apart our social safety net, slashed the real value of benefits and squeezed public services to breaking point.
However, the economic pain has not been felt equally across society. WBG’s report “Where do we go from here? An intersectional analysis of women’s living standards since 2010” offers a grim outlook: By 2027/28, the poorest women will see their living standards drop by 21%, equivalent to a loss of £5,000 per year. Black, Asian and minority ethnic women face a 13% decline in living standards, and disabled women a loss of 11%. Single mums, who already face some of the most precarious financial realities, will see their living standards plummet by 18% which comes up to more than £10,000 in income loss. In short, if the government doesn’t change course now, vulnerable women will be even poorer towards the end of this parliament than they were when Labour was last in office.
Labour’s return to power offers an opportunity to set a new course. But it is not yet clear whether Labour will seize this opportunity to undo the damage wrought by austerity. The scale of the challenge facing Rachel Reeves and her colleagues is immense. The country is grappling with rising child poverty, record-high NHS waiting lists and local councils are struggling to deliver basic services. If Labour truly wants to foster economic stability, it must recognise that a healthy economy depends on healthy people, robust public services and a social security system that does its name justice and provides people actual security.
A good starting point would be to abolish the two-child limit. Voices from across the board have been calling to end this punitive and cruel policy that restricts benefits for families with more than two children. There’s plenty of evidence linking the two-child limit to child poverty. Research has shown that it is even failing on its own terms, having no impact on choices over family size.
