LABOUR CALL FOR LIFT IN LIMIT Tory benefit cap punishes single mums the most
ALMOST two-thirds of Scots hit by the UK Government’s illegal benefit cap are single mums, it has emerged.
A High Court judge last month ruled the cap, which limits the total amount of benefits a family can receive to £20,000, is unlawful and discriminates against single parents with young children.
And now an analysis by Scottish Labour has shown single parent families made up 2397 of the 3642 Scottish households affected by the cap in February this year.
Ninety-six per cent of the single parents were mums.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Alex Rowley said the UK Government must lift the cap.
He added: “These figures highlight the huge impact the new, lowered household benefit cap has on lone parents who make up well over half of households affected in Scotland.
“As Labour repeatedly warned, the impact of this and the Tories’ other social security cuts is pushing more children into poverty, punishing them for their parents’ circumstances.”
The UK Government intend to appeal the High Court’s decision and ministers say the cap encourages people back into work.
But in his judgment, Justice Collins said: “Most lone parents with children under two are not the sort of households the cap was intended to cover. Real misery is being caused to no good purpose.”
SNP MP Alison Thewliss held a debate at Westminster this month calling for the Government to abandon the cap.
A DWP spokesman said: “Lone parents who work part-time are exempt from the cap, and those who are subject to the cap can still receive benefits up to the equivalent salary of £25,000 in Scotland.”
The cap was first introduced in April 2013 and it was reduced to £23,000 in London and £20,000 outside the capital last November.
Single mums have to work 16 hours a week to be eligible for working tax credits, which exempts them from the cap.