London - British living standards are back to pre-financial crisis levels but are still slightly below their peak before the country's last national election in May 2010, a leading think tank said on Wednesday.
With a new election barely two months away, on May 7, the opposition Labour Party is blaming the ruling Conservative-led coalition for a "living standards crisis" which has little precedent in modern British history.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the recovery in living standards was far slower than after previous recessions in the 1980s and 1990s, reflecting weak wage growth and the effect of tax rises for higher earners and cuts to welfare benefits.