Universal credit ‘£890 a month short’

Universal Credit for single people over 25 falls £890 a month short of the increased cost of living, despite its 10.1% April 2023 inflation-linked uprating, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has said.

Sam Tims, economist at the NEF, said: “Universal Credit isn’t benchmarked to what people actually need to make ends meet and so millions are being pushed into financial hardship.

“The basic rate of unemployment support is at its lowest level in real terms since the early 1980s, but many people receive a reduced basic rate because of deductions resulting from the five-week wait for a first payment or due to third-party debts.”