Changes To Benefit Entitlements From April 2017

·         Employment and Support Allowance work-related activity group - Work Related Activity component is being abolished so those in this group will receive the same rate of benefit as those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance

·         Families with children - support provided through Child Tax Credit will be limited to two children; Universal Credit will be limited to two children

·         New taper rate - a reduction in the taper rate to 63%, from 65%

·         Universal Credit and the benefit cap - From 1 April 2017 if a claimant is in work they will be exempt from the Benefit Cap if weekly earnings are equal to or greater than the equivalent of 16 times National Minimum/Living Wage rate, rather than a flat rate of £430 per month/£100 per week.

Read more on the NHF website.

Rent Rises, Low Pay – Millions ‘Living On Brink’

Exorbitant rents and stunted wages are leaving 3.5 million Londoners without enough money to meet their basic needs, research shows. The number falling short of a minimum level of living in London has increased by 400,000 since 2010, researchers found. Private rents rose by 7.2 per cent in London between 2014 and 2016, double that in the rest of Britain, while the cost of letting “cheaper” properties has gone up four times as much as the rest of Britain. And the minimum wage increase to £7.20 an hour for over-25s hasn’t helped, with high costs of living meaning single adults are actually worse off than before the rise, despite a benefit outside the city. Read more on the Morning Star website.

Welfare Minister Apologises For Disability Pay Comments

Welfare minister Lord Freud has apologised for "foolish and offensive" remarks in which he suggested people with disabilities could be paid less than the minimum wage. Labour has called on the Conservative peer to resign after he said some workers were "not worth the full wage". David Cameron distanced himself from the comments, saying they "were not the views of anyone in government". Lord Freud said he was "profoundly sorry" and supported the minimum wage. Read more on the BBC website.

Single Parents Bear Brunt of Benefits Changes, Charities Warn

Single parents with already stretched finances are bearing the brunt of government changes to benefits, charities have warned, when many are already struggling with huge increases to household bills. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that single-parent households make up a quarter of the total number of households in England and Wales. Calculations from the charity Gingerbread show that on average, single parents working on the minimum wage will lose just over £200 a year under Universal Credit compared with the current system. Read more on the Observer website.

Charity to Offer Shipping Container Homes

A charity is planning to use shipping containers to house homeless young people in east London to allow them to live independently as they save for their own home.  Forest YMCA has identified sites in Leyton and Waltham Forest for the containers and has put in a planning application to Waltham Forest Council.  It plans to rent out the temporary homes, which cost up to £20,000 each, at a rate of 30 per cent of the minimum wage – about £75 a week.  The mYPad homes, as the charity calls them, will have a bed, small kitchen, toilet and shower and television.  Read more on the Forest YMCA website.

Single Parents in PRS Face Poverty

The introduction of universal credit could leave many single-parent families facing a life in poverty because of rising private sector housing costs.  A study from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University found that the caps on how much benefit can be claimed under the new system will leave many worse-off even if they take part-time work.  According to the research – published by the charity for single people Gingerbread – a single parent with an average private rent earning the minimum wage would stay below the poverty line even if they work up to 16 hours a week.  In contrast, someone paying a social rent, covered fully by universal credit, would be able to escape poverty by working only a few hours a week.  The report further found that the universal credit will provide a disincentive to work longer hours for many people.  Download a copy of the report - Struggling to make ends meet - from the Gingerbread website.