Universal Credit doesn’t provide an adequate income for most of the people that depend on it. This is especially the case for the 2.25 million households on Universal Credit (including 2.3 million children) who have their benefit payments reduced even further because of deductions. On average these households see their Universal Credit payments reduced by £61 per month – rising to £73 per month for households with children. Many new claimants to Universal Credit have had to take out an advance loan to cover the 5 week wait before their benefit payments begin. And numerous claimants have deductions applied to repay previously overpaid benefits – this is the case even if the overpayment was many years ago.
The hardship caused by Universal Credit deductions must end and we explain why in our latest blog.