Labour’s reforms to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will see 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, plunged into relative poverty, according to the Government’s own figures.
A DWP report into the impact of benefit cuts, including to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), comes shortly after Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Spring Statement this afternoon.
The report reveals up to 3.2million families could lose financial support as a consequence of the drastic changes to the DWP, spearheaded by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall.
As part of the cuts, which include restricting eligibility to disability PIP benefits, the DWP found 370,000 Britons will lose support with the average loss of £4,500 annually.
Families are expected to be worse-off as the DWP reforms
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It states: “We estimate there will be an additional 250,000 people (including 50,000 children) in relative poverty after housing costs in 2029/30 as a result of modelled changes to social security, compared to the baseline projections.”
However, the DWP’s assessment noted that this projection does not factor in the impact of the £1billion annual funding by 2029/30, announced by Reeves.
This money is being reserved to help fund measures supporting Britons getting into work “which we expect to mitigate the poverty impact”, according to the Government.
Last week, Kendall unveiled the changes to PIP as the Government attempts to reduce spending in order keep up with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) targets.
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The DWP has published its impact assessment into benefit cuts
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