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Official stats reveal fears at the heart of Con-Dem Britain

Worries about health and wealth have surged across Britain since George Osborne delivered his last cuts-laden Budget

Worries about health and wealth have surged across Britain since George Osborne delivered his last cuts-laden Budget, the National Office for Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer will argue that the economy is growing under the Con-Dem government as he puts public services under the knife in Parliament again today.

But a major ONS study of national wellbeing shows that the average income has fallen since the Con-Dems took office in 2010.

Net income per person plummeted by £747 from £21,472 in 2011 to just £20,725 in 2012 and almost a quarter of all people aged between 25 and 44 were finding it very or quite difficult to get by financially.

The TUC said working age people were "feeling the pinch" due the longest squeeze on real wages in over a century.

General secretary Frances O'Grady said: "It's concerning to see net income down when the economy is beginning to blossom again.

"In tomorrow's Budget the Chancellor must halt the squeeze on working families and encourage firms to give their staff a pay rise."

The social impact of falling income and services cuts has been exposed by growing concern over health and a rise in the number of people without qualifications.

Britain witnessed a huge 7 per cent fall in the number of adults mostly or completely satisfied with their general health between 2011 and 2012.

Overall satisfaction stood at 65.6 per cent in 2010/11 but reached 58.6 per cent in 2011/12, with those aged 45 to 54 suffering most.

The figures saw health satisfaction in Britain fall below the average of the European Union's 28 member states.

Socialist Health Association director Martin Rathfelder explained that an increase in numbers of people suffering physical illness was unlikely.

But he told the Star: "It's perfectly possible that more people were feeling stressed, depressed, unhappy, uncertain and insecure. All these things attack your wellbeing very considerably.

"By then unemployment had risen and there's a lot of good evidence that's bad for your mental health."

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