OXFAM REACTION to the Government’s Households Below Average Income statistics

“These latest poverty figures are as damning as they are heartbreaking – almost one in three children are living in poverty across the UK. This is before yesterday’s brutal cuts, where the Chancellor chose to remove vital security and safety from those who need it the most instead of taxing the super-rich.

“By the Government’s own admission, at least a quarter of a million more people, 50,000 of them children, will be pushed into poverty because of these political choices. We live in the sixth richest country in the world where billionaires alone saw their wealth soar by £11 billion last year. It is morally repugnant that children, disabled people and carers are the ones who are taking the hit.

“Dignity, respect and a life free from poverty are a right for all of us, not a privilege. It is unconscionable that the Government is cutting social security while willfully ignoring the huge potential revenue of a tiny tax on the super-rich, one that is overwhelmingly backed by the British public.”

Ends

Notes to editor

A poll this week by YouGov on behalf of Oxfam shows that people across the UK strongly back action on wealth inequality. Findings showed:

• 77 per cent - would rather the UK Government increase taxes on the very richest to improve public finances than see cuts to public spending
• 78 per cent support introducing a 2 per cent wealth tax on net assets worth more than £10 million
• 67 per cent - think that the very richest people in the UK should pay more in tax

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,257 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 17th - 18th March 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Full press release here: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/media/press-releases/three-quarters-of-british-public-would-back-government-tax-increases-on-very-richest-versus-spending-cuts/

Oxfam is calling for a two per cent wealth tax on those with net assets of over £10 million, which could raise an estimated £24 billion tax revenue each year - £460 million every week and would only apply to 0.04 per cent of the population - around 20,000 people.