Government Appeals Against High Court Benefit Cap Ruling

The Government has launched an appeal against a ruling that its controversial benefits cap unlawfully discriminates against lone parents with children under two. The cap, which came into force last year, limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive to £23,000 a year in London and £20,000 elsewhere. But in June, a High Court Judge said the benefit cap was disproportionately affecting lone parents, and causing “real misery to no good purpose". Read more on the Independent website.

Hardship Payments Available Immediately To Homeless JSA Claimants

From October 2017, Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants who are homeless will have immediate access to hardship payments if their benefit is reduced because of a sanction. Universal Credit claimants who are homeless and have received a sanction already have immediate access to hardship payments. However, JSA claimants currently have to wait two weeks. The regulations will cover eligible claimants who are homeless, suffering from a mental impairment, including a mental health condition, and their partners. People who are pregnant, lone parents, and people with long term physical health conditions can already access hardship payments immediately. Read more on Homeless Link.

Lone Women Parents Most Likely To Suffer ‘Hidden Homelessness’

Growing numbers of women in England are experiencing ‘hidden homelessness’ – living in precarious arrangements without privacy or their own legal living space – according to new research. Women’s homelessness is a major social problem in the UK, with the latest figures revealing that from 1998 – 2015, 1,475,150 households were registered as homeless in England. Approximately 995,360 of these households were homeless families (as opposed to single occupant households) and/or had a pregnant woman living in them. Of these homeless families, some 65% are said to be lone women parents, amounting to approximately 647,000 lone women parents and their children. Read more on 24housing.

3 Million Households Set To Benefit From Universal Credit Changes

Three million households across the country, including lone parents and those on the lowest incomes, are set to keep more of what they earn due to a £700 million boost to Universal Credit. From today (10 April) the taper rate, the rate at which a Universal Credit payment reduces as someone moves into work, will be lowered from 65p to 63p. The change means that some households could benefit by £425 a year. Read more on the DWP website.

Universal Credit Cuts Hit Families With Children Hardest

Families with children are the biggest losers under the cuts made to universal credit since it was first established, with some families left thousands of pounds worse off, according to a new analysis. The study by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that a series of cuts and changes have left the government’s flagship welfare overhaul failing to meet its original aims. Lone parent families will be on average £2,380 a year worse off, while families with two children lose £1,100 on average and those with three youngsters lose £2,540. Although universal credit was intended to boost household incomes by strengthening incentives for claimants to move into work or take on more hours, most families will be worse off than under the scheme’s original design, it says. Download the research from the CPAG website.

Homelessness – Parliamentary Written Answer

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of homeless people were (a) men and (b) women in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Marcus Jones: In April to June 2016, of 15,170 households accepted as homeless in England, 8,410 were female one person or lone parent households, 2,410 were male one person or lone parent households, and the remaining 4,350 were couples or other household types. Of the 73,120 households in temporary accommodation in England at 30 June 2016, 38,220 were female one person or lone parent households, 10,050 were male one person or lone parent households, and the remaining 24,850 were couples or other household types. CHAIN data for London shows that during 2015/16, 15% of people seen sleeping rough were female. 

Benefit Cap Affects Nearly 33,000 British Households

Nearly 33,000 households have had their benefit capped in the first seven months of the policy. The DWP has published details showing the impact of the £26,000-a-year total household benefits cap. The DWP statistics show 32,940 had their benefits reduced at some point between 15 April and 21 November. A total of 27,352 households were affected by the cap in November. The vast majority of these, 95 per cent, were households with children, with 22,357, 82 per cent, having three children or more. More than half of the affected households, 16,174, were single parents. Download the statistics from the DWP website.

Households Renting From Private Landlords Rises To 15%

The proportion of people renting from private landlords in Britain rose from 10% to 15% between 2008 and 2011, the Office for National Statistics says. The General Lifestyle Survey found in that time the proportion owning a house with a mortgage fell from 40% to 35%. In 1972 - just after the survey began - 37% of households had central heating. It had risen to 92% by 2000.  Other findings suggest the proportion of one-parent families tripled since 1971 but it has been steady since 1998.  While the number of people renting increased in 2011 to 15%, the proportion of people renting was usually nearer 20% in the 1970s.  Read more on the BBC website.

400,000 Low Income Working Families Worse Off With Universal Credit

The findings of a CIH report – Making Work Pay - estimate that 400,000 working families will have less income with Universal Credit in 2015 than they did in 2010, demonstrating that the government's aim for households to be better off in work than out of work under Universal Credit is not the case for all families. The 400,000 families who could be hardest hit include some of the lowest earning in the UK - households that earn £247 or under per week will all see a fall in real income in 2015 and lone parents with one, two or three children will always be worse off if Universal Credit continues in its current format. Download the report from the CIH website.

Anger as Lone Parents Face Benefit Cuts

Charities have spoken of their fury over changes to the welfare system which will force unemployed single parents with children about to start school to find a job or risk losing part or all of their benefits.  These 124,000 single parents with children aged five and six were given only eight weeks notice of the fact that they would have to move from income support to jobseeker's allowance (JSA). Previously, lone parents of older children have been given up to 12 months notice, giving them a greater chance of planning ahead and improving their skills and qualifications.  According to research published by the charity Gingerbread, single parents moving to JSA now also face a much harsher time finding "a family-friendly job in a hostile labour market characterised by low economic growth and high unemployment".  While the definition of their availability for work must take their childcare responsibilities into account, a lone parent could risk losing part of his or her benefits for up to three years if they are judged to be seeking work with insufficient vigour. The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that only 20% of the 124,000 are expected to find employment.  Read more on the Observer website.

Households Warned Of £500-A-Week Benefits Cap

The Government is sending out letters to households affected by the £500-a-week benefits cap which comes in next April.  The cap will limit the amount of benefit couples and lone parent households can receive to around £500 a week or £26,000 a year – the equivalent of the average household income after tax or a gross household salary of £35,000.  Research published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has put the number of claimants who would see benefit cuts as a result of the cap at 67,000 - 44% of which are in the social sector. More than half those affected are in London.  In January nine of the UK’s biggest housing associations in the South East warned the Government that the £500 a week benefits cap could see them pull out of building family-sized homes. This is because the cap makes the properties unaffordable under the Government’s Affordable Rent product, which allows providers to increase social rents to up to 80 percent of the market rate in order to fund new homes.  Read more on 24dash.