£600 better off: Single mother Linda Lewyckyj is a learning support assistant at St John the Baptist Primary School, Brighton.

Making ends meet has always been difficult and she recently moved into a smaller home to manage her mortgage payments.

She has a daughter, Soraya, 10, a pupil at the same school in Brighton.

Miss Lewyckyj, from Brighton, said she was lucky to have no childminding fees to find because she only worked during school terms and felt better off than many other single-parent families.

She said: "Last year's Budget was not really for me but the increase on cigarettes made me give up. I don't drive and when I go into the city centre, I often walk or catch a bus."

From her weekly take-home pay, in the £150 to £200 bracket, and one-parent child benefit of £15.50, she has to find £65 per week for the family shopping and a further £16 for council tax.

Gas, water, electricity and phone cost £40 per week.

Mr Coward said: "Linda will be pleased the Budget focused on families by increasing the children's tax credit.

"From next year, the working tax credit will further increase her weekly income but this will be eroded by the one per cent rise in NI contributions."

The ups will give Linda £1,400 in child benefits and downs are likely to remove £800 from her pay.