Action for Children reacts to cut to £20 Universal Credit uplift

• New analysis from the charity shows six-month extension will see an estimated 2.5 million families with children currently on Universal Credit or Working Tax Credits miss out on a combined total of £1.3 billion across the 2021-22 financial year – equal to each family losing £520 in a year.
• If six-month extension only applied to existing (pre-April 2021) claimants, over that period an estimated 390,000 new Universal Credit households with children would miss out on a combined total of £202.8 million compared to existing claimants – equal to each family losing £520 over six months.

Action for Children’s director of policy and campaigns, Imran Hussain, said:

“It makes no sense to cut this lifeline in six months when the furlough scheme will have ended and unemployment is expected to be near its highest – exactly when families will need it most. Families need help and certainty, not a stay of execution.

“There’s no faster way to push more children into poverty than by snatching £20 a week out of the pockets of our country’s poorest families. Many of them are in work and doing their best to hold their heads above water after a traumatic year that’s seen hours cut and wage packets slashed.

“We ask the Prime Minister to urgently make the uplift permanent for all Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit claimants - and extend it to legacy benefit claimants - to prevent a generation of vulnerable children from being scarred by poverty and the pandemic."

ENDS

Media contact

Huw Beale: 07718 114 038 / [email protected]

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Notes to editor

• Action for Children policy briefing: Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit uplift
• Action for Children protects and supports vulnerable children and young people by providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives. With 476 services in communities across the country, the charity helps more than 370,000 children, teenagers, parents and carers a year. actionforchildren.org.uk