Number crunching How the changes could affect your personal finances
The Guardian|October 31, 2024
Rachel Reeves's first budget as chancellor included lots of measures that could affect your personal finances. Here we explain the main ones.
Hilary Osborne Shane Hickey
Number crunching How the changes could affect your personal finances

State pensions will go up by 4.1%

The chancellor confirmed that the triple lock on pensions will mean a 4.1% increase from April - increasing the full state pension from £221.20 to £230.25 a week, or by £470.60 a year.

The standard minimum guarantee for single pensioners will go up from £218.15 a week to £227.10. That means those earning less than £11,809 a year will be eligible for pension credit. This is all the more important now the universal winter fuel allowance has been scrapped and will only be paid to those on pension credit.

Other benefits will rise, too

Some of the other state benefits are linked to inflation and the drop in the headline figure for the cost of living means in April they will increase by just 1.7%.

Universal credit is the biggest riser. The standard allowance for a single person aged 25 or over is £393.45 a month. It will rise by £6.69. For a couple aged over 25 it will go up by £10.50 from £617.60.

Other inflation-linked benefits, such as child benefit, will go up by the same amount. For child benefit, that should take the rate for the first child up from £25.60 to £26 a week, and the rate for additional children from £16.95 to about £17.20 each.

However, the government said it had scrapped plans to base the clawback of child benefit on household rather than individual incomes.

Carer's allowance, an area in which the Guardian has campaigned for reforms, will go up by £1.39 a week from £81.90. And the earnings limit - the maximum carers can earn and still claim the benefit - will go up by £45.

Fiscal drag will end on incomes but not inheritances

This story is from the October 31, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the October 31, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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