The Chancellor has delivered his Spring budget but what does it mean for you?

Jeremy Hunt shared that his new Spring budget will build "on the stability we gained from my Autumn Statement" as he outlined "the next steps to drive economic growth across the UK".

Wednesday's announcement saw the widening of free childcare support, the extension of household energy assistance and investment incentives for businesses.

CEO and Founder of the UK's most-awarded money-management platform, HyperJar, Mat Megens has responded to the statement with a comprehensive breakdown of today's speech.

"The Chancellor's move to make childcare more affordable is a huge benefit to our customers, as it's an expense that can consume about a third of their total income," Mat explained.

"Planning household finances at the moment is like trying to guess the winning lottery numbers: theoretically possible, but in practice entirely random and extremely difficult to achieve your goal.

"The Chancellor has given us some additional and much needed certainty about what our bills for fuel and energy will look like in future, which means families have a fighting chance to plan ahead and budget accordingly. Stability has never felt more wanted or needed."

Here's how the new measures are set to affect you and your bank accounts, according to MicroJar.

Here's how the budget at a glance will affect you

Energy Price Cap Guarantee
A welcomed relief for Brits struggling financially, as it has been confirmed that the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will be kept at £2,500 for an additional three months from April to June.
The Decision from the Chancellor will mean that the energy price guarantee will not increase to £3,000 in April as was initially planned. According to the Treasury, this will save the average household around £160.
 
Pre-Payment Energy Charges 
 Under the renewed Energy Price Guarantee Scheme, the chancellor has declared that the government will be bringing prepayment energy charges in line with customers who pay by direct debit. 
Households that have prepayment meters are typically on low incomes yet pay more due to the fact energy firms pass on the costs of managing the meters. It is estimated that more than four million struggling households are set to save £45 a year on energy bills from 1 July.
 
Increase in Lifetime Pension Allowance
In an attempt to tackle the “pension trap,” which has led many professionals, including NHS consultants and GPs, to take early retirement during or after Covid-19, the Chancellor has decided to make the decision to abolish the

Lifetime Pension Allowance
Workers have also seen a rise in the amount they can save in their pension pots in a year before paying tax – which is set to rise to £60,000 from its current mark of £40,000.
Around 2 million Brits will benefit from an increase in the lifetime pension allowance.

READ MORE: Who is the OBR as Jeremy Hunt delivers the Spring Budget?
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Childcare
The average cost of sending a child under two to a nursery for 25 hours per week in the UK (part-time) has risen to £7,729 per year (52 weeks), compared to £7,212 in 2022. 
 As it stands, all children aged three and four in the UK can claim up to 30 free hours of childcare a week.

In light of the increasing costs of living, more parents are returning to work instead of caring for their children. 
As a result, the Chancellor has answered the growing calls from British parents to offer more financial relief, and now children aged 9 months and over will be entitled to 30 free hours of childcare a week on the condition that a parent in the household works 16 hours a week. 
To keep up with the new numbers of childcare needed, the government have implemented financial incentives for childminders to take on more children. A £600 signing incentive rising to £1200 for those who sign up through an agency.
The new demand for nurseries to provide more free care will see staff-to-child ratio relaxed from 1:4 to 1:5 and funding for nurseries will increase by £204m from this September, rising to £288m in 2024.
 
Fuel tax 
Millions of drivers will continue save at the pump as the 5p fuel duty cut is extended.

That saves the average driver £100 next year and around £200 since the 5p cut was introduced.
 
Families on Universal Credit
 The Chancellor has confirmed the government will be making changes to families who claim universal credit when it comes to their childcare costs.
The biggest change will be that the government will now pay the childcare support sum upfront instead of in arrears meaning families will no longer have to pay out themselves.
 The Chancellor will also raise the sum parents on universal credit can claim for childcare. Parents with one child will be able to claim £951 and £1,630 for two children.