Ending the benefits freeze won’t stop families facing the choice between heating and eating, warns Citizens Advice Isle of Wight.
In 2019, the charity was contacted by 227 people from the Island who needed help with both income-related and debt issues.
From April income-related benefits will increase by 1.7% in line with inflation.
While a welcome move, national Citizens Advice analysis shows that almost 4 in 10 households that ask for debt advice and receive these frozen benefits would still not have enough to cover their costs. This would be the case even if these rises were to continue each year until 2024.
Citizens Advice is calling on the government to fix the problem by making sure that income-related benefits support people to cover their costs. It says Local Housing Allowance, which sets housing benefit for private tenants, must also provide more support. This will help provide families with financial security and protect people from further hardship.
The charity also argues that as well as changes to benefit levels, the government must make sure the benefits system as a whole provides people with the right help. This includes ensuring Universal Credit gives people enough to live on. The government must review rules for claimants who are in work, and deductions for those dealing with debts or repaying advance payments.
Paul Savill, Chief Officer of Citizens Advice IW, has said:
“While any increase is better than nothing, this rise won’t be enough to make sure people have enough money to make ends meet.
Article continues below this advertisement “We hope more will be done to fix the benefits system, which was created to support people in times of need. In the meantime, Citizens Advice IW will be on hand to provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice”.
perhaps if there was a significant effort by the state to stop claims being paid out to those that make no effort whatsoever to get a job, those that turn up in this country without the means to support themselves and stop giving out child benefit/tax credits to feckless adults that have countless children with no ability to support them, then there may be additional cash available for genuine cases, where people are just not able to support themselves.
Perhaps if there weren’t so many liars and cheats, claiming disability benefits, then there would be more cash available for genuine claimants.
This is the legacy of so many lefty, socialist do gooders claiming that it is some feckless layabouts human right to effing well sponge off everyone else.
There is nothing wrong with the benefits system itself, it is the vile, disgusting spongers that hang around it, like druggies at a dealers, demand more.
Why should the rest of us, get up each day, work, pay taxes (which we do not want to pay), just to see that cash handed to a bunch of lazy, self entitled slobs.
for some, they can stop buying baccy, booze, mobile tops ups and cut the sky tv subscription, then they would have enough for food and heating.
I take it you are unaware that over 80% of all benefit claimants are in work, so the tax payer is subsiding companies that pay a pittance wage.
@chippy
wrong…
UC – universal credit.
2.3 million people were on UC, at 11 July 2019
760,000 (33%) UC claimants are in employment
930,000 are in the ‘Searching for Work’ conditionality regime
490,000 are in the ‘No Work Requirements’ conditionality regime
over 13 million are claiming the state pension, out of a total of 20 million people who claim DWP benefits of one form or another.
as you can see chippy 760,000 are working out of a total of 20 million claimants – that is less than 4% – far below your 80%
better check your numbers .
You can’t include those claiming pension as being a sponge you sociopath. Next stop, eugenics… although your PM actually seems to endorse it so…
You really are a vicious, twisted, dweeb.
cage – perhaps a short lesson in follow the chain of messages would be of benefit to you. My response clearly states to chippy,
as that comment indicates 80% of people claiming are in employment, which they are not.
My first comment was in response to the article.
I do wish you would engage you brain first before commenting.
You said, “over 13 million are claiming the state pension, out of a total of 20 million people who claim DWP benefits of one form or another.
as you can see chippy 760,000 are working out of a total of 20 million claimants – that is less than 4% – far below your 80%”
So you are including those claiming pension in your numbers.
cage – I can see why you are a socialist lefty, as your ability to comprehend numbers is on par with dianne abbott.
The conversation is about the percentage who are in work and claiming benefit – chippy says 80% of all claimants, which I have pointed out, with facts, that the total number of claimants who are in work, out of the 20m total claiming any type of benefit from the DWP, is less than 4% of the total and not 80% as chippy indicated.
Is it really that difficult to follow – no wonder the lefty socialists destroy economies, when they are stupidly elected.
So yes, you are including those claiming pension. So, please, try again.
Your maths is wrong, as is your understanding of the economic crash. Unfortunately I couldn’t enlighten you as IE immediately blocks my comments on it.
I did reply to you explaining why you were wrong again, but unsurprisingly the IE deleted my comment. Nothing in it was offensive, but that’s the way it works here. I have no doubt you are connected to the site.
DWP says 20 million people in the uk claim a benefit of some description – whether it be pensions or UC doesn’t matter.
of this 20 million, 760k are claiming a benefit whilst working – that is less than 4% of 20 million people.
How hard is it cage – these numbers are taken straight from the governments own site.
Chippy said, and i quote…I take it you are unaware that over 80% of all benefit claimants are in work,
i followed up that, with the government states 760k claimants are in work – this is less than 4% of the total number of benefit claimants in the uk, of which the state pension is a benefit and not the 80% that chippy stated.
jeez – are you really this slow cage.
Any state benefits will not be increased unless nationwide publicity creates a political imperative and that is, broadly speaking, in the gift of big business which owns most television and radio channels in the uk.
how about get a job like every one else!
Hang on, so what you’re saying is, people who don’t have enough still won’t have enough if their ‘increase’ is to meet inflation.
Damn, I’m astonished. Can I have some more enlightenment, please. Thanks.
In other news, CRP won’t stop someone needing hospital treatment.
When the UK only had to fund it’s own benefit claimants, it could easily cope. Now it has to fund fully or partially the rents, council tax, numerous offspring, NHS costs, free education costs, sickness money, operations and other huge medical bills for all those who chose the UK to be their home.
Employers love it, as they can then pay the minimum amount they legally can, knowing that with a huge amount of cheap labour arriving daily, someone will work for such money, but that then forces ALL our wages down.
Conversely the huge swell of new people then force up the rents, again as landlords know desperate people will pay more for even substandard housing, thus costing us all more.
To add insult to injury, we then have to pay stealth taxes to fund ‘the difference’ in the low earnings which the employers gain by, as we then fund the low earners wages, and subsidise their rents and council tax by ‘in work’ benefits.
It is NOT coincidence that since mass immigration that the UK’s living standards have fallen but when or IF you think about such, as we are forced to accept lower wages but higher rents, then it is easy to see why.
It is equally easy to see why it will NEVER change as the rich, and those who make the laws and rules gain, as they ARE the business owners and owners of much real estate and future building land, so they actively encourage such. Hence ‘whichever’ Gov we get the immigration number continue to rise.
Imo they still will even with the latest points system, as they will make getting in so easy and use the increase in doubling students numbers, knowing many of them will never leave once here. Watch and learn.
I have to agree Az, well thought out…
I also aggree 100% with Az, If anyone doubts the root cause this malfeasance then look into the way we have come to be governed by agroup of people who,at the GE gained only a 28% minority. IIObviously their voters love everything they do. Count the way mickeymouse calculators decide which candidate has a “majority” of votes cast. Its as bent as a nine bob note.
You have spouted utter nonsense. The easiest solution of course is to raise the minimum wage so that no one has the option to work for so little, as you put it, not taking into account people needing to pay for their existence, or they could just not work but you’d hate that more.
Of course, this higher minimum wage nonsense sounds a lot like leftie nonsense, and you do hate that.
cage – you do realise that as the minimum wage goes up, so do the costs of everything, which includes rents/taxes/goods/services as people have more disposable income, which means businesses can increase prices and as such no matter how high a wage is, the costs will move up accordingly.
What happened to my comment,twist some do gooders ears did it?
Ok, here is another question regarding Britain’s strained resources, Why is a women who deliberately breeds 14 kids,allowed to claim £70,000 a year in benefits but disabled peoples payments are stopped?
If that hypothetical situation exists the answer is simple, otherwise those children would suffer and their entire lives be affected in severely negative ways, such is the life in extreme poverty.
those parents should be thinking to theirselves that they do not have the resources to support children and as such shouldn’t have any until they do. The rest of us do not wish to pay for their brats and if they “go without” that is their problem.
If someone has been paying for all their own kids and falls on hard times, then that is different, they get support, however, if someone has no money and brings kids into the world – they should have to face their kid everyday going without because they chose to have them. Those kids are not societies kids and are not responsible for paying for them.
If a family had 7 kids ehile they were working.they would only get money for 2 if they lost job.the goverment doesnt care or use any type of common sense.
People havent been able to claim for moe than 2kids for quite a while now.5years or more
Since April 2016 2 child cap
The censors,”Moderators”, are nameless,faceless and lacking understanding of Free Speech.They are unconstitutional.