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Let’s talk about the government’s measures to support households. There is a clear divide between those who are protected under the government’s schemes to support workers, and those who aren’t. Those who are will get approximately 80% of their income. Great! But ...1/
Many are not covered and will have to rely on our incredibly weak social security system. How many is not yet clear, but there were over one million new claimants for universal credit over the past two weeks. 2/
Although the government has slightly increased the generosity of the main element of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £20, this only brings it up to £90 per week. And additional money pumped into the system only restores 20% of the cuts since 2010. 3/
Could you live on £90 per week? Maybe you could just scrape by if you don’t have any particular additional needs, and if you’ve had time to adjust your outgoings – such as rent, mortgage, debts. 4/
But the droves of new claimants are now coming to realise what those who have relied on this system over past years have known for a long time: it is simply not enough to cover living costs for the majority of people, even with the modest top-ups for housing and costs for kids.5/
An adult working full time and earning the minimum wage — the most meagre of in-work incomes — will only get 31% of their previous income once on UC, a loss of over £210 per week. 6/
We urgently need to ensure that no one slips through the net. At @NEF, we are proposing a Minimum Income Guarantee as an urgent part of a range of measures to ensure that everyone has enough to cover the basics such as rent, bills and food. 7/
It would be a non-conditional cash payment to anyone who applies for it, set at a rate of £221 per person per week – equal to the 2019 minimum income standard established by @JRF and @cepr_org 8/
Those already on benefits should get an automatic top-up, and anyone else can apply for it. The systems are already in place to do this. Using the universal credit advanced payment system, we can get cash in people's pockets immediately. 9/
This must be available to everyone: raising the level of the safety net will ensure that those losing all or part of their income will not be expected to fall so far, and will also raise income for current claimants, who may face further hardship as a result of the crisis. 10/10
