OBR report warns of stalling living standards and slow real household disposable income growth in Budget 2026
The OBR report indicates that real household disposable income is growing at a record slow rate of less than 0.1 percent per decade, remaining just 1 percent higher than pre Covid levels by the end of the decade.
Key points
- The OBR report highlights historically weak growth in real household disposable income per person.
- Growth reached a historic low over the 10 years to 2025-26, averaging just a quarter per cent a year.
- Real household disposable income per person will be just 1 per cent higher than its pre-pandemic level 10 years on from the onset of the pandemic.
What Happened
The OBR report details that real household disposable income is rising at a record slow rate of less than 0.1 percent per decade, according to findings cited in The Guardian: Politics [b95fd970-b250-4a6a-aa22-ff9c9727516d].
Context
The central forecast from the OBR represents a continuation of historically weak growth in real household disposable income per person following the global financial crisis [b95fd970-b250-4a6a-aa22-ff9c9727516d]. This slowdown is attributed to lower growth in productivity and real wages [b95fd970-b250-4a6a-aa22-ff9c9727516d].
Why it matters
The OBR report warns that real household disposable income growth is slowing to less than 0.1 percent per decade.
What we know
- The OBR report states that real household disposable income is rising at a record slow rate of less than 0.1 percent per decade [b95fd970-b250-4a6a-aa22-ff9c9727516d].
How the story developed
OBR report published during Budget 2026 coverage
The OBR report outlines historically weak growth in real household disposable income per person.
Original source
