Report reveals spiralling costs is faced by British families

3.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 4th Feb 2008

The typical British family is more than £1,300 a year worse off following sharp rises in tax, mortgage costs and energy bills over the past four years, a report by the Centre for Policy Studies has shown. The study says that millions of households are "very exposed" to the expected economic slow-down with the average family burdened with more debt than their annual income as they struggle to pay higher bills.

Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor said "Gordon Brown claims to have presided over a remarkable decade of growth. But the truth is the living standards of large numbers of families have only been sustained by considerable, and often excessive, borrowing. Family debt in relation to income is the highest in the developing world and the highest in our history. In the current credit crunch, many families will be feeling the pinch. On top of that, taxes, in particular the unfair council tax, have risen in a way that is unrelated to people's ability to pay."