UK inflation hit a 40-year high of 9 per cent in the year to April, new Consumer Price Index figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal. But analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that the poorest households are being hit even harder. According to its calculations, inflation for the poorest decile of households is 10.9 per cent – three percentage points higher than inflation for the wealthiest decile (7.9 per cent).
The disparity is down to the fact that lower income households spend more of their family budget on electricity and gas, which have soared in cost. In April, the energy price cap increased by £693 for the typical family – a rise of over 50 per cent.
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