Calls have been made for the Universal Credit uplift to be brought back - and increased in value. Millions of families benefitted from the £20 a week uplift during the pandemic which was withdrawn by the government which said it was a ‘temporary measure’.
However, calls are growing for it to come back and be increased to £25 amid growing evidence its axing plunged some of the poorest people in the country into even more financial difficulties. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published its findings on Sunday ahead of a full report into “Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK”, which is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The IFS report said that it expected “the absolute poverty rate to be 0.16ppts (106,000 people) higher in 2022–23 than in 2021–22 as a result of the £20 cut to Universal Credit”, meaning more than 100,000 people have been pushed into real penury by the decision, BirminghamLive reported.
It said that other changes to the Universal Credit system had not been as impactful as the £20 increase in payments. The cuts to Universal Credit have been described as ‘devastating’. The £20 uplift from the Department for Work and Pensions lasted for 18 months - and amounted to £1,560 in total. The DWP said it had only been a temporary measure when it was cut in October 2021.
