Chancellor Healey Faces Pressure Ahead of Wednesday's Budget

Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first Budget on Wednesday, and two workers on opposite ends of England's income scale say the plan needs to ease costs already squeezing their monthly totals, according to BBC News. The outlet reported there have been few leaks about what the Budget will contain, though Healey's tax and spending choices face close scrutiny because government borrowing costs are at what BBC News described as "historic highs."

What does a single mother in south London want changed?

Chloe Chin-Saad, 40, lives in a housing association maisonette in south London with her 16-year-old son, BBC News reported. Her husband died four years ago, and she says the loss of a second income still shapes every bill she pays. Her energy costs have climbed to about £200 a month, she told BBC News, and she now caps her weekly food shop at £40 after cutting back on trips to M&S and the cinema.

Chin-Saad also pays £200 in council tax and £250 a month in car finance, plus costs for medicine tied to her rheumatoid arthritis, two mobile phone bills, and pet insurance, according to BBC News. Some months she is left with as little as £50. "I don't access benefits but I work full-time and it's hard. Can the government do anything else to help? Something on our tax bill perhaps," she told BBC News.

Why can't a 29-year-old in Gateshead afford to move out?

Robert Portlock, 29, still lives with his parents in Gateshead and told BBC News that renting a small flat nearby would eat up two-thirds of his monthly wage before council tax, energy, food, a TV licence, broadband, his car and any money to socialize are factored in. "By that point I'd be in the minus," he said.

Portlock's biggest expense is his car, which he needs for a 32-mile round trip to his job at Newcastle Airport, BBC News reported. He pays £750 a month in car finance, insurance, fuel and tax. He wants the chancellor to cut fuel duty and income tax, or raise the personal allowance — the amount of income not taxed — from £12,570 to about £16,000, according to BBC News.

What has the government already offered first-time buyers?

BBC News noted the government has announced a scheme letting first-time buyers in England get on the property ladder with a deposit as low as 2.5%. Portlock said that still doesn't solve his problem. "Saving for a house is impossible at the moment," he told BBC News.

What happens on Budget day?

Healey presents his first Budget on Wednesday, BBC News reported, with both tax policy and spending plans expected to draw scrutiny given elevated borrowing costs. Neither Chin-Saad nor Portlock said they expect dramatic relief, but both told BBC News they are watching for any change to council tax, income tax thresholds, or fuel duty that would show up in their accounts starting next month. BBC News said it is continuing to collect responses from readers on different incomes through its Your Voice feature ahead of the announcement.

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