‘Back to work’ pensions reform risks costing Treasury £100,000 a job, think tank warns

IFS says policy is ‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’

Jeremy Hunt’s multi-billion pound pensions giveaway in the Budget may not increase the number of people in work and could open an inheritance tax loophole for the wealthy, experts have warned.

The highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said the policy risked costing £100,000 per job, as it warned households will feel “continuing pain over the “next year as wages fail to catch up with prices during a "lost decade" of living standards.

Mr Hunt used his back to work Budget to abolish the tax-free cap on pensions savings and announce plans to expand free childcare to toddlers.