WARNING OVER BENEFITS CUTS
RCT COULD BE HIT HARD BY UNIVERSAL CREDIT REVERSAL
THE campaign to extend the £20 uplift in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit has intensified after figures were released showing that almost 150,000 families with children in Wales stand to lose out if the cut goes ahead in October.
In 36 of Wales’ 40 parliamentary constituencies, that represents more than a third of all working-age families with children.
The benefits were increased temporarily by Chancellor Rishi Sunak shortly after the beginning of the first lockdown in April 2020, but are due to revert to their pre-Covid level after the end of September.
Many opposition politicians oppose the cut, as do some Conservative MPs, claiming that the UK’s poorest communities will be hit hard.
Wales, which has higher poverty levels than the other three UK nations, will be hit hardest of all.
All six of the Welsh seats gained by the Conservatives from Labour at the 2019 General Election have more than a third of working-age families claiming the benefits: 49% in Vale of Clwyd, 43% in Wrexham, 42% in Clwyd South, 40% in Delyn and Ynys Mon and 38% in Bridgend.
The independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation has used the latest official data released last week to produce a comprehensive analysis of which parliamentary constituencies will be most affected by the scheduled cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
The looming cut will have a particularly severe impact in Rhondda and Cardiff South and Penarth constituencies, where half of all families with children are in receipt of Universal Credit or Working Tax Credits, with Vale of Clwyd, Torfaen and Newport East all on 49%.
Only four of the 40 Westminster constituencies in Wales have fewer than one in three families with children affected – Pontypridd, Gower, Monmouth and Cardiff North – although even in the constituency with the lowest proportion affected, Cardiff North, around one in four families with children is affected.
Peter Matejic, deputy director of evidence and impact at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “We are just over a month away from the UK Government imposing the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since the Second World War.
“This latest analysis lays bare the deep and far-reaching impact that cutting Universal Credit will have on lowincome families in Wales.
“Now is the time for MPs and MSs of all parties to step up and oppose this cut to their constituents’ living standards.
“Plunging low-income families into deeper poverty and debt is no way to level up.
“It’s not too late for the Prime Minister and Chancellor to listen to the huge opposition in Wales and around the UK to this damaging cut and change course.”
On average 22% of all working-age families – with or without children – in Wales will experience a £1,040-a-year cut to their incomes on October 6, amounting to around 275,000 families.
This is slightly higher than the average of 21% across Great Britain, while the gap for families with children is bigger, with 42% of families with children in Wales affected, compared to 39% in Great Britain.
The number of working-age families with children affected in Wales amounts to 149,120.
Dr Steffan Evans, policy and research officer for the Bevan Foundation said: “The latest analysis provides a stark reminder of just how devastating an impact the cut to Universal Credit will have on all our communities in Wales.
“Nearly a third of Welsh children are already trapped in poverty.
“The cut to Universal Credit will hit these families hard, further deepening some of the inequalities that have developed as a result of the pandemic.”
Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda, said: “I’m not surprised that Rhondda is one of the two constituencies in Wales that will be most affected if the cut goes ahead.
“Many of the families claiming the benefit are working, but their wages are really poor despite working all the hours that God sends.
“Taking away the extra £20 per week will not only be disastrous for the families concerned, but for the shops and businesses in the communities where they live and spend their money.
“This is an extremely short-sighted policy.
“I’ve heard Tory MPs say that £20 a week is nothing, but for some families it’s a week’s shopping bill.
“It’s far less than the £180 coffee mug that Rishi Sunak has. We shall do our best to get the decision changed before the cut is implemented.”
Asked by Sky News whether there was any chance he would change his mind about imposing the cut, Mr Sunak said: “That temporary uplift was indeed temporary, I don’t think it will help [families] the most. It was a right intervention for the particular part of the crisis we’ve experienced.
“Now as the economy is reopening and businesses are hiring again the right thing to do is to help people find well-paid jobs.
“This is why the kickstart scheme is important, it’s why we give companies huge cash incentives to create new apprenticeships for people.”