UK’s poorest have borne brunt of cost of living crisis, says thinktank

Deep-scarring effects': Living standards for hardest hit won't return to pre-pandemic levels until 2027, report predicts

Britain's poorest households have suffered a 4,500 hit to their finances since the start of the Covid pandemic, according to a report indicating that those on the lowest incomes have borne the brunt of the cost of living crisis.

Highlighting a dramatic fall in living standards since Boris Johnson's election landslide four years ago, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) thinktank said soaring costs for energy, food and other basic essentials had hit those most badly off the hardest.