Tag Archives: disability
Working parents may hit ‘ceiling’
The report was commissioned to probe whether Universal Credit, which combines six different benefits and tax credits into one simplified payment, will achieve its goal of making work pay. It suggested that people without children will generally have stronger incentives to work.
Moving into “mini jobs” of up to 10 hours a week would see families better off under the shake-up, but working beyond this threshold results in a slow climb towards a higher disposable income, it found. Families could end up “trapped” on inadequate funds to get by.
The system risks being undermined by high childcare costs combined with low wages and sharp cuts in Universal Credit once families earn above certain thresholds, the report, titled Does Universal Credit Enable Households To Reach A Minimum Income Standard? said.
Donald Hirsch, from the centre for research in social policy at Loughborough University and author of the report, said the rewards for working extra hours under Universal Credit can be “tiny”. He said: “Parents hit a ceiling where a lid is placed on the aspiration to work more hours for an adequate income, because the return is negligible.”
Government’s bedroom tax forces carers to cut back on food
Emily Dugan Author Tuesday 09 July 2013
Carers are being forced to cut back on essentials such as food and electricity because of the so-called bedroom tax.
Despite Government promises to protect them from the under-occupancy charge, one in six carers forced to pay it are falling behind on their rent and face eviction, research by Carers UK shows.
Campaigners say the charge on ‘spare’ bedrooms in social housing has had a particularly devastating impact on those caring for disabled family members, who often need the extra room. Three quarters of carers having to pay it are being forced to cut back on essential spending on food, electricity and heating.
Heléna Herklots Chief Executive of Carers UK said: “This policy is having a shocking impact on families already struggling to care for seriously ill or disabled loved ones. Carers, whose contribution is often warmly praised by ministers, are being made to feel like they are being punished. These are carers who need an extra room just to get a few hours of sleep as they care 24/7 for a disabled child, or who are unable to share with a partner because of serious illness.”
Bishop wants research into welfare reform-food bank use ‘link’
Research is needed into whether government welfare reforms have caused more people to become dependent on food banks, the Bishop of Truro says.
Bishop Thornton said foodbanks were dealing with “a desperate need for food”The Right Reverend Tim Thornton said it was vital to understand if there was any sort of link.
A study by Church Action Poverty and Oxfam said more than 500,000 people in the UK may rely on food banks because of benefit cuts and unemployment.
The government said its reforms aimed to improve the lives of poor families.
Bishop Thornton said: “We need to ask for the facts as to why people are in this situation, and why there is such a desperate need for food.
“It wouldn’t take much work to point out how these things are growing.”
In response to the recent Church Action Poverty and Oxfam study, the government said its welfare reforms would “improve the lives of some of the poorest families in our communities”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-23216487
