A single person on universal credit now receives 20% less than what it costs just to eat and keep warm

By Donald Hirsch, Professor of Social Policy, Loughborough University

The UK’s income safety net is in tatters.

In principle, anyone without income can escape destitution by claiming universal credit or, if above pension age, pension credit. In reality, the value of working-age benefits has fallen to such a low level relative to need that they can fail to meet the most basic requirements of daily life.

Worse still, the majority of people without earnings will have to live on even less than these…

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