U.K. Welfare Cut to Cost 200,000 Families $6,100, Labour Says

More than 200,000 working families in Britain may lose as much as 3,870 pounds ($6,100) a year because of Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to cut tax credits, the opposition Labour Party said.

Couples earning less than 17,700 pounds who have children will lose all of their working tax credits from April unless they boost the minimum number of hours they work to 24 from 16, Labour said today, citing figures contained in a government reply to a parliamentary question.

The policy, announced by Cameron’s coalition government in June 2010, aims to save about 390 million pounds a year by 2015. It’s part of a broader squeeze on the welfare budget aimed at reducing Britain’s budget deficit.

“This is a deeply unfair change from a government that is increasingly out of touch with parents feeling the squeeze and struggling to juggle work and family life,” Rachel Reeves, a lawmaker who speaks for Labour on economic matters, will tell the shopworkers’ labor union, Usdaw, according to comments sent by the party.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gonzalo Vina in London at gvina@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net