Plans to tackle unfair benefits deduction rates, provide support for people struggling to pay for essentials, and to help tackle child poverty are all steps in the right direction, but won’t offer the fundamental changes needed to tackle poverty at its core.
Following today’s Autumn Statement, UK debt advice charity, Christians Against Poverty, (CAP) has highlighted that while some proposals could help tackle poverty-related issues, there will be many on the lowest incomes who will still face a desperate winter ahead.
Christians Against Poverty’s Chief Executive Officer, Stewart McCulloch, said,
Following today’s budget, it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel now but it’s still a very long, dark tunnel for those in poverty, facing a harsh winter.
Stewart continues:
“As a charity that offers face-to-face help to people living in poverty across the UK, we welcome the acknowledgement of the challenges that people face when deductions further reduce the income that they receive from social security. Many of our clients will be among the one million of the UK’s poorest households who will be £420 a year better off on average as a result of a change to how much can be deducted from people’s Universal Credit payments.
“Another welcome announcement was the announced increases to the support carers will receive through their Carers’ Allowance.
“But with social security rates only set to increase by 1.7%, millions will still be left with the reality that their income is not high enough to cover the costs of essentials.”
CAP’s own figures highlight that almost half of their clients don’t have enough income to cover their basic needs and are living on a deficit budget. On average, they’re around £273 short of what they need each month just to pay for their essentials. CAP’s recent YouGov polling also revealed that 22% of adults in the UK are living with a deficit budget — meaning they don’t have enough income to cover their basic needs.
Stewart McCulloch continued: “As an organisation also providing support to help people into employment, the news that there was additional funding to assist people into work may provide the resources to help people on this journey. But full time paid employment is not always an option for those facing disabilities or with caring responsibilities.
“For those who are able to be in paid employment, increases in the National Minimum Wage and plans to remove the discriminatory age boundary will be welcome news. But it is still concerning that this didn’t apply to those on benefits, who may be unable to work or still looking for employment.”
