Families 'bear the brunt of govt reform'

Families could face financial difficulties such as a bad credit rating as a direct result of the government's austerity measures.

Chief executive of The Family and Parenting Institute Dr Katherine Rake argued changes to the benefits and taxation system have effectively been disproportionately targeted at parents with children.

She specified those with very young kids could be particularly negatively affected, as mums and dads with offspring under five years old will suffer from a transitory period.

Dr Rake explained the time between 2012 and the introduction of universal credit in 2015 to 2016 is a very significant period and child benefits being frozen for that long will be tremendously damaging.

"You are actually talking about the first five years of a child's life. What we know is that if children experience poverty young, it's very difficult to reverse those effects," the expert explained.

A report recently published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies indicated family incomes will decline by 4.2 per cent in the years leading up to the implementation of reform.

Posted by Tom Burroughs