Austerity effect hits women ‘twice as hard as it does men’

Tax and benefit changes since 2010 have increased equality gap

Women will have shouldered 85% of the burden of the government's changes to the tax and benefits system by 2020, according to figures published ahead of next week's autumn statement.

The analysis, by independent thinktank the Women's Budget Group, shows that tax and benefit changes since 2010 will have hit women's incomes twice as hard as men by 2020. Women will be 1,003 a year worse off by 2020 on average; for men, this figure is 555.

Related: Equal Pay Day: how the UK's gender gap in earnings has shifted over the years