Londoners lose out but childless families win over Whitehall benefit and tax changes

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed that the government's changes to taxation and benefits have left households an average of £1,127 out of pocket.

The IFS said poorer families with children have lost out, as have households in London and the south-east, as a result of the Conservative-led changes.

"Whichever way you cut it, low-income households with children and the very richest households have lost out significantly from the changes as a percentage of their incomes," said James Browne, a senior research economist at IFS and co-author of the report.

"Increases in the tax-free personal allowance have played an important role in protecting middle-income working-age households, meaning that those without children have actually gained overall."

The coalition government has chopped and changed the tax and benefits system which includes an increase in the main rate of value added tax (VAT).

Whitehall has also pushed up the rates of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) but has slashed the amount people can receive in benefits.

The IFS showed that low-income working-age households have been the worst hit, losing on average 4% of their incomes.

Regionally, greater London households lost out on the most cash from the changes, followed closely by south-east England, the West Midlands and north-west England.

However, middle-income working-age households without children have gained the most from the wave of changes.

They have lost up to 2.5% of their income, but have remained "remarkably unscathed" while pensioners were "relatively unaffected".