Thousands of families rely on universal credit to pay for day-to-day essentials including food, clothing and utilities.
Those in poverty have been impacted the most by COVID-19. Amid months of restrictions, home-schooling, and in some cases loss of income and severe isolation, the £20 uplift was significant and had a massive impact.
The impact of the £20 a week increase reflects the reality that the standard level of benefits was simply not enough and remains inadequate to protect the increasing number of households relying on benefits as the pandemic rolls on.
I have found the deafness of the Government to maintaining the universal credit uplift and permanently increasing the basic rate by £20 per week unbelievable.
Ending this increase would see the level of unemployment support fall to its lowest real-term level since 1990/91, and its lowest ever relative to average earnings.
“The impact of the £20 a week increase reflects the reality that the standard level of benefits was simply not enough”
At a time when local economies and independent businesses are taking a hit from the ongoing restrictions on high streets, the increase in benefit levels has also supported local businesses and local jobs during the pandemic and will continue to do so, as people are more mindful to shop local and support their communities – something the poor do much more than others.
The message is simple: every £1 into local people’s pockets and then the local economy has an impact many times its value as it is recycled and re-spent. It is not rocket science, so I hope that the Government will listen to what has now become a cross-party plea.