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One in five universal credit claimants fear they will be forced to turn to food banks if the government scraps the uplift to the benefit, a report has warned.
The £20 weekly increase, introduced last year as to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, is set to end in April – with the chancellor repeatedly dodging questions about whether the measure will be continued.
But research from food bank charity the Trussell Trust has suggested that a fifth of people receiving the benefit will be “very likely” to need to rely on emergency food if the cut goes ahead – a group equivalent to 1.2 million people.
Some 41 per cent of respondents said they would be left to cut back on food for themselves if the uplift is scrapped at the end of March, while 13 per cent – equivalent to 220,000 people – said they would have to cut back on food for their children.
And 19 per cent of respondents in the poll of 1,000 universal credit claimants conducted by YouGov said they would be very likely to fall behind on housing costs.
The government has so far refused to say whether the temporary increase will be extended.
Emma Revie, chief executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “This survey reveals the shocking consequences of what lies ahead if this lifeline is cut in April.
“This isn’t right. No-one should have to suffer the indignity of relying on emergency food.
“It’s clear that action is needed to ensure our benefits system provides people with enough money to cover the essentials.
“That’s why we’re insisting the Government turns this situation around. Keeping the £20 Universal Credit uplift, and extending it to legacy benefits, will provide an anchor from poverty for people who need it most.
“The Government should continue to do the right thing and keep this lifeline. It is a crucial step in moving towards a hunger-free future for the UK.”
In November research from the Legatum Institute found there were 690,000 additional people in poverty in the UK amid the economic fallout of the pandemic – and a further 690,000 would have joined them were it not for a £20 uplift.
Groups calling for the increase to the benefit to be maintained include anti-poverty charities like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust, and bodies like the Work and Pensions Committee.
A Government spokesman said: “We are committed to supporting the lowest-paid families through the pandemic and beyond to ensure that nobody is left behind.
“That’s why we’ve targeted our support to those most in need by raising the living wage, spending hundreds of billions to safeguard jobs, boosting welfare support by billions and introducing the £170 million Covid Winter Grant Scheme to help children and families stay warm and well-fed during the coldest months.”
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