Families with children hit by £400 hike in monthly costs while benefits plunge to 40-year low

Households with two children see inflation rate of 13% as costs of fuel and food surge

In cash terms, families are spending around an extra £120 per month on energy, £90 on transport including petrol and £65 on childcare, the JRF estimates (Getty Images)

Families are seeing prices for basic goods such as heating, rent and food rise by £400 per month, according to a new analysis showing the severity of Britain’s cost of living crisis.

It found that low-income families with two children were among those worst impacted, seeing living costs rise at an annual rate of 13 per cent – much higher than the official rate of 9 per cent.

That is largely because they spend more on fuel and food, which have seen some of the sharpest price increases. Families on the lowest incomes are being hit harder and sooner than others, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said.