{"id":150796,"date":"2025-08-28T10:03:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T09:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=150796"},"modified":"2025-08-28T10:20:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T09:20:17","slug":"labour-milestones-review-raising-living-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/labour-milestones-review-raising-living-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Milestones Review: Raising living standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the summer of 2025 draws to a close, the Government\u2019s milestone<\/a> to \u2018raise living standards so working people have more money in their pockets\u2019 sits in a complex economic landscape. Polling patterns suggest<\/a> that inflation continues to weigh heavily on public perceptions of economic competences and while inflation has eased from the peaks of the cost-of-living crisis it remains<\/a> at around 3.6%, above the Bank of England\u2019s 2% target. Moreover, for many households, the modest GDP growth<\/a> of 0.3% in the last quarter offers little tangible relief when combined with rising<\/a> unemployment, now at its highest level in four years.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s central interventions have focused on wage policy. In April, the National Living Wage rose<\/a> by 6.7% to \u00a312.21, with projections<\/a> to reach at least \u00a312.71 by next spring. Moreover, the Low Pay Commission\u2019s remit has been expanded<\/a> to consider cost-of-living measures when it makes future recommendations to the Government on the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

However, surveys<\/a> from Lancaster University suggest that almost half of workers have little left after covering essential bills, with low-income households especially doubtful that wages will keep pace with rising costs. Similarly, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculates<\/a> that average disposable incomes remain \u00a3400 below pre-pandemic levels, with the poorest fifth of households on course to see a 6% drop by 2030. The Resolution Foundation notes<\/a> that for higher earners, apparent gains can be offset once the value of public services and tax changes is factored in, making any perception of improvement more reliant on service delivery than on disposable income alone.<\/p>\n

A turning point came in the spring when the Government was forced<\/a> to row back on some of its proposed reforms to disability benefits after a sharp backlash from campaigners, charities, and backbench MPs. Although the U-turn avoided a Labour rebellion, it created a gap in the Government\u2019s fiscal plans; as planned savings from welfare reform were baked into the Budget\u2019s forecasts. This gap will need to be filled, and attention is turning to the possibility of further tax rises in the autumn, a move that could complicate Labour\u2019s narrative of helping working people keep more money in their pockets. According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the Chancellor may<\/a> now need to find more than \u00a340bn of tax rises or spending cuts in the autumn budget to meet her fiscal rules.<\/p>\n

Moreover, business groups warn that higher employer costs, from the NLW to National Insurance and the Employment Rights Bill currently going through Parliament, risk dampening investment and hiring. The CBI projects<\/a> growth of just over one percent this year, enough to avoid recession but not enough to produce the rising tide needed to lift all boats.<\/p>\n

The milestone of raising living standards was never going to be achieved within a single year, but by mid 2025 Labour\u2019s progress feels somewhat incomplete. The challenge heading into the autumn spending round is to deepen and accelerate measures that deliver direct, visible benefits.<\/p>\n

For more on how the Labour Government is delivering on its promises, read the Vuelio Political team\u2019s take on its housing<\/a>, policing<\/a>, healthcare<\/a>, and education<\/a> commitments.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Labour\u2019s bid to raise living standards is under strain as rising costs, fiscal gaps and business concerns test its ability to turn promises into tangible gains ahead of the autumn budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":441,"featured_media":150835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7383,7271],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150796"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150839,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150796\/revisions\/150839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}