Universal credit: what the £20 a week cut will mean for hundreds of thousands of households

By Donald Hirsch, Professor of Social Policy, Loughborough University

After a year and a half, the temporary £20 increase to universal credit introduced during the pandemic is coming to an end.

The adequacy of benefits has deteriorated gradually over the past decade. In 2010, the family safety net was worth about two-thirds of the minimum income standard for families with children. Today it is barely half. This £20 cut will be a sharp blow to the 6 million claimants already struggling…

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