Single mums bear brunt of benefits cap
SINGLE mothers are being hit hardest by the government’s benefits cap, the M.E.N. can reveal.
A recent report from the Labour party revealed that nationally, single females with at least one dependent child make up over 85 per cent of all individuals who have had their benefits capped.
But analysis of Department for Work and Pensions data by the Manchester Evening News has shown that the situation in our region is even worse.
Latest figures show that in August last year 5,011 single adult households have had their benefits slashed due to the cap – including 4,576 single mothers.
A further 2,955 couples in Greater Manchester have had their benefits capped, as have 15 households where the relationship status and sex of the claimant is unknown, bringing the total number of households affected to 7,981.
Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of UK Women’s Budget Group, said the figures came as no surprise.
She said: “The government was warned when it first introduced the benefit cap that it would hit women with dependent children hardest, but they continued. Social security should be based on need, not an arbitrary limit introduced to make the government look tough, with little regard to the impact on the lives of those pushed further into poverty.”