The TUC has warned that families could be £3,000 a year worse off by 2015 due to tax credit changes.
Parents could be in for a shock, it said, because they have not yet realised how much the reforms will cost them.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady: "Cutting tax credits is not the way to get our economy moving again" Credit: Edmond Terakopian/PA Wire
The organisation claimed that a family with parents earning £25,000 and £15,000 paying childcare of £300 for their two children could lose over £3,000 a year by 2015/16.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The Government should be prioritising support for working families but seems more interested in coming up with new ways to squeeze their living standards."
Narborough railway station was closed in 1968 following the Beeching Report but reopened in 1970 following public objections Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Opinion remains divided on what long-term effects Richard Beeching's recommendations had, with rail travel more popular than ever, and more trains now running than in the year before the report.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said said rail firms are "intent" on repeating the work of Dr Beeching, "by embarking upon a new era of swingeing railway cuts".
TUC: Osborne's economic strategy a 'complete disaster'
The head of the TUC union, Frances O'Grady, has accused the Chancellor George Osborne of pushing the economy to the "brink of an unprecedented triple-dip recession".
We are now mid-way through the coalition’s term of office and its economic strategy has been a complete disaster.
The economy has grown by just one per cent, real wages have fallen, and the manufacturing and construction sectors have shrunk. We remain as dependent on the City as we did before the financial crash.
The Chancellor now has all the evidence he needs to change course and focus instead on investment and growth. If he refuses to listen he could do even more permanent damage to the economy.
Urge the government to abandon the austerity measures and cuts and put investment in jobs and growth first.
Create a long-term vision for the economy with a new industrial policy and forge a laser-like focus on the need to create decent jobs and apprenticeships.
Build a fair society – with the poorest paid the Living Wage, more done to stop tax avoidance and evasion, and workers’ given a say on bosses’ pay.
This all adds up a very different approach to the economy and a challenge to all the political parties, employers and indeed unions.
My strong belief is that when we look back at the period from the 1980s to the 2008 crash, historians will see these as exceptional times, as damaging in their way as the 1930s.
What will dismay them most is how slowly we are building a new economic model to replace the one that fell with Lehman Brothers. There is surprisingly broad consensus that we need real change.
New TUC chief Frances O'Grady, has urged the Government to change course and abandon its austerity programme, while promoting a new industrial policy.
The country needs a "laser-like" focus on creating decent jobs and apprenticeships, especially in parts of the country that need them most, she said.
Workers should be given a say over top pay through employee representation on remuneration committees and there should be a debate about economic democracy, or "worker voice".
Our economy is sick and the Government's medicine is not working. We were told that short-term pain would deliver long-term gain, yet all we see are nasty side-effects with no sign of a cure.
What is worse is that we now seem to be locked into a vicious downward spiral of cuts. They are not working so the Government cuts even more.
Reducing the living standards of some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society, while attempting to tar them all as scroungers, is perhaps the very definition of a party determined to be seen as nasty and, what is more, it will further depress demand and slow the economy.
People on the breadline spend every penny of their income, and mainly spend it in the local economy, while those who will benefit from the cut in the 50p tax rate coming this year are as likely to save it or take it offshore.
New TUC chief attacks 'vicious spiral' of spending cuts
The new leader of the TUC has launched a strong attack on the Government for its "vicious spiral" of spending cuts which are hitting low-paid workers and jobseekers.
TUC chief Frances O'Grady Credit: Johnny Green/PA Archive
Trades Union Congress embraces Heseltine's economic review
Lord Heseltine's report into economic growth must be embraced across government, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The TUC has today backed the Heseltine review of regional growth in the UK but has warned that it needs to be backed across government in order to make a difference.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber. Credit: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/Press Association Images
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, commenting on the report, said: “Lord Heseltine’s Review offers a refreshing new strategy for growth. But it must be embraced across government if it’s to make a difference.
“By stressing the interdependence of public and private sectors, the review shows that the approach that delivered the London Olympics could create success stories across the country."
He added: “We fully back greater investment in science and research, as well as smarter use of procurement to boost British industry, which are both long standing calls of the TUC."
Union boss to attack Government for 'broken promises'
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
The TUC general secretary Brendan Barber is to accuse the Government of "broken promises" when he addresses a major rally in London later today.
He will say: "Ministers told us that if we only accept the pain, recovery would come. Instead we have been mired in a double dip recession.
"They told us if we only accepted the cuts, our deficit would come down. Instead our borrowing is going through the roof.
"The biggest lie of them all was the cynical double talk that we are all in this together. The grim reality has been tax cuts for the richest with wage and benefit cuts for the poorest."
