More than 5,400 people on the Isle of Wight are benefiting from tailored Universal Credit support, the latest figures show.
New data released this week revealed that more than 2.8 million people are receiving Universal Credit across the country – an increase of 2% from the previous month.
In the South East, 290,211 people are now receiving bespoke Universal Credit support, up 2.4% from January.
The publication of the latest Universal Credit statistics comes in the same week new figures showed the UK employment rate has climbed to a record high of 76.5%. The unemployment rate remains low at 3.8%, according to the official data.
Will Quince, Minister for Welfare Delivery, said:
“No two people are the same, which is why Universal Credit support is tailored to you – already it’s helped thousands of people across the South East as they’ve moved into full-time work.
“Universal Credit can pay up to 85% of your childcare costs, help with housing bills, and provides a monthly allowance to top up your wages. And from April the amount you can get on Universal Credit is going up.
“To learn more about what help is available through Universal Credit visit www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk.”
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Universal Credit, which is available in every jobcentre across the UK, simplifies the benefit system and replaces 6 previous benefits with a single monthly payment. With the new system people are moving into work faster and staying in work for longer than they were before.
Significant improvements brought into the system over the past year include empowering working parents and disabled people to earn an extra £1,000 a year before their benefit starts to reduce and increasing the time parents and guardians have to claim back childcare costs
From April people on Universal Credit will see their payments from the benefit rise by 1.7%, in line with inflation.
James Snelling, DWP Group Partnership Manager for the South East, said:
“Every day Universal Credit is giving more and more people in the South East the tools to transform their lives through work.
“The system is helping people move into work faster and stay there for longer and the service is constantly adapting and improving. It also provides valuable support for families and those most in need.”
Bull shit!
What a disjointed article, UC has left many people worse off.
Just don’t be poor? Or stupid enough to not have education that gets you a job??
Trying to figure out what part of my comment immediately got it blocked?!
Was it pointing out how this article is misleading, that this government has k illed over 100,000 vulnerable people, or just presenting fact.
Try working a FULL week then, NOT just ‘doing’ 20 hours then paying in NOTHING into the system, BUT then being able to claim huge rent subsides along with council tax subsides, then still have child allowance as your ‘charity kept’ children via U.C, ensure the ‘taking’ out of the pot continues for the next, but larger generation.
You are given free education and NHS treatment and child allowance now, so the state (aka the rest of us) are ‘keeping’ your children, yet you still expect more in Universal credits or ‘child tax credits’.
IF someone ‘chose’ to buy a horse, the rest of the public would not be expected to ‘keep’ that, so why should others keep ‘your’ children? Many are ill brought up, and end up a burden to those that ‘fund’ them anyway.
Try doing a full weeks work rather than swaning around in Cafe’s. spas, and the nail bar after ‘dropping the kids off’ in a ‘second car’, all funded by universal credits, for the day.
Truth hurts both ways, for those who ‘don’t wish to hear it’ and for those who have to fund the ‘too poor to breed’ but will anyway as others pick up the tab and they end up fiscally better off than those who choose not to inflict more onto a full world.