The latest cuts in universal credit are expected to hit more than 28,000 working households in Somerset, the TUC has warned.
The Trade Union Congress today warned that more than 28,700 working families – 42% of those receiving universal credit – will be hardest hit by the government’s planned cut.
About 185,000 workers in the South West region currently receive universal credit – the equivalent of 2 in 5 of all beneficiaries. They will all be hit hard by the £ 20 per week reduction.
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Work tax credits are also reduced in October, having been increased by £ 20 per week at the start of 2020.
This means that the majority of those affected by the £ 20 per week benefit cut this fall will be working families, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Key workers and low wages among the hardest hit
Key low-paid workers will be among the hardest hit and the TUC believes this will put additional pressure on employers to grant pay increases.
A recent TUC study released this summer showed that one million children in key worker households are currently growing up in poverty – and many of them are currently dependent on work-related benefits like universal credit to boost their income. poverty wages.
In addition to stopping the planned £ 20 per week cut in universal credit, the TUC calls on the government to raise the minimum wage to £ 10 an hour and urgently introduce a jobs bill to fight against precarious work.
TUC South West Regional Secretary Nigel Costley said: “Everyone should have enough money to live on, but many are struggling to make ends meet here in Somerset.
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“If cuts in universal credit continue, many working families – and key workers – up and down the region will be forced to make do on much less each week. This is the leveling down – not the leveling up as we have been promised.
“Ministers should drop this cruel cut that will hit low-income working families. We need a social security system that helps people get back on their feet – not a system that locks them in poverty.
“We need decent jobs with a living wage for every worker in Somerset.
“It means raising the minimum wage, investing to create good green jobs, tackling the scourge of precarious work and giving all key workers an appropriate wage increase.
“Simply cutting off universal credit is not the way to create decent work. “
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Source: www.somersetlive.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-09-03 06:13:45
