Scots families worse off by £800

THE cost of living crisis has robbed the average Scottish family of £ 00 of their earnings, according to economists.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) yesterday revealed the impact on families in an assessment of the effect of soaring inflation over the past two years. It also provided hope that the economy could begin to recover as it upgraded its forecasts for growth.

Its predictions highlighted that living standards will decline by 4 per cent this year compared with 2021-22, which is the largest fall ever recorded.

Professor Graeme Roy of the SFC said: ‘We still expect living standards to fall from the 2021-22 period.

‘We expect that living standards will fall again this year and in total the drop in average living standards measured by average household disposable income will be about 4 per cent – about £ 00 on average for families.’

But the SFC is no longer forecasting a technical recession. It now predicts a 0.7 per cent increase in GDP this year, compared with a 0.7 per cent contraction predicted in its December report, followed by 0.9 per cent next year and 1.3 per cent in 2025.