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New #BenefitCap statistics out this morning - our statement: https://cpag.org.uk/news-blogs/news-listings/170000-households-hit-benefit-cap
Official figures out today show the number of households subject to the benefit cap has reached 170,000, an increase of 8% since May 2020. Most of the increase is in London. The cap limits the total amount of benefits low-earning or non-working households can receive.
Most of these households are capped as a result of Covid-19, either because:
1. their working hours have been cut or they have been furloughed on a percentage of their usual pay, so they cannot reach the £604.59 monthly earnings threshold to be exempt from the cap
1. their working hours have been cut or they have been furloughed on a percentage of their usual pay, so they cannot reach the £604.59 monthly earnings threshold to be exempt from the cap
2. they have lost their job
or 3. the increases in #UniversalCredit and LHA rates mean their benefit income now reaches or exceeds the cap limit. These people will not benefit from the full value of upratings.
or 3. the increases in #UniversalCredit and LHA rates mean their benefit income now reaches or exceeds the cap limit. These people will not benefit from the full value of upratings.
CEO @alisongcpag: "The govt’s aim for the #BenefitCap was to should incentivise work. But if that was ever a sound rationale in a pandemic it has become obsolete. Families are being capped when the shrinking labour market leaves them little hope of finding extra hours or new jobs
"More than 1/2 families affected by the cap have a child aged five or under. They are losing crucial support just as we enter a recession. That isn’t right. At a minimum the cap should be suspended during the pandemic so the lowest income parents can meet their kids' basic needs”
