BRITS claiming Universal Credit have welcomed a change to harsh rules which take away cash the more you work.
The government has slashed the taper rate which reduces Universal Credit when earning over a certain amount.
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In a spectacular win for The Sun’s Make Universal Credit Work campaign, payments will be reduced by 55p for every £1 earned over the work allowance, instead of 63p.
Mr Sunak also announced an increase to the work allowance too.
It means on average working Brits on Universal Credit will get to keep £1,000 more of their wages. .
The new rules comes almost three years after we started campaigning for change to make Universal Credit work.
We’ve featured scores of Brits claiming the new benefit and highlighted their plight, including losing cash when in work.
Single mum Sara Collins, 51, will be better off under the new rules.
The mother of three was made redundant during Covid and is now a mature student and works 20 hours a week as a money coach for her local council.
She told The Sun: “It will make a huge difference to me.
“I had to work out the pros and cons of working and now there will be even more benefit to me working.”
Sara gets Universal Credit of £1,744 each month before deductions.
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The first £293 Sara earns doesn’t affect the amount of Universal Credit she gets – but every £1 she earns over this reduces her Universal Credit by 63p.
Her latest take home pay of £770 for the month means that she loses £300.
But with a taper rate slashed to 55p Sara will lose less cash and be better off by £38 a month, or nearly £500 a year.
“Huge difference”
Sara said: “That’s a nice amount of money. I buy food on a daily basis now because I don’t know how much I’ll have left. I’ll be able to buy food now knowing I’ll have enough to last the week.
“For the rate to be lowered will make a huge difference to my weekly budget.”
The change, announced in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget today, comes after Universal Credit was cut by £20-a-week.
The end of the temporary uplift to help through the pandemic will leave millions on low-incomes over £1,000 worse off a year.
The Sun wants to Make Universal Credit Work
THE Sun has campaigned to fix big problems with Universal Credit, the flagship new system replacing six benefits with a single monthly payment.
Universal Credit was first introduced in 2013 and has gradually been rolling out across the country.
Households claiming legacy benefits will be moved across to Universal Credit by September 2024.
In December 2018 The Sun launched its Make Universal Credit Work campaign.
We called on the government to:
- Get paid faster: The Government must slash the time Brits wait for their first Universal Credit payments from five to two weeks, helping stop 7million from being pushed into debt.
- Keep more of what you earn: The work allowance should be increased and the taper rate should be slashed from 63p helping at least 4million families.
- Don’t get punished for having a family: Parents should get the 85% of the money they can claim for childcare upfront instead of being paid in arrears.
Charities including Child Poverty Action Group, Save the Children, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Turn2Us also backed the calls.
In a win for The Sun’s campaign, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a taper rate rule change which will see working Brits keep more of what they earn.
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The harsh taper rate effectively taxes Brits 63p in the pound on anything they earn over their base level of benefits – which puts many thousands off applying for better paid jobs or taking on more hours.
Slashing the rate to 60p will allow workers to keep more of the money they earn and incentivise people to take on extra work.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the move would benefit 1.7million families, but leaves another two million facing the full brunt of the cut.
The Budget at a glance:
“Lessens the blow”
Sun columnist and single mum Nichola Salvato, 50, will also be better off under the new rate.
The charity worker said: “It lessens the blow of the rising costs we’re facing from inflation and fuel prices”
“It is welcome as it minimises the impact of the National Insurance rise. It is a step in the right direction but there’s still more that can be done.”
Nichola is taking the government to court to fight unfair rules that mean parents have to fork out for childcare costs and claim the cash back later.
Bernadette Humphries, 36, receives around £1,200 a month in Universal Credit.
She also loses 63p of every £1 if she earns more than £293 a month from work.
She previously told The Sun that this led to her turning down a £24,000 job in favour of one paying £19,000.
“I worked out I’m only going to get an extra £80 a month for a lot more stress — that’s not worth it. I understand that I get financial help from the Government, but it sends out the right message to people if they can hold on to more of it.”
The mother of two said she can now consider getting a higher paid job if she can keep more of what she earns.
She said: “There should be an incentive to work. This is going to be great for people to take higher earnings jobs and for people who want to train to earn more in their career.”
“As a single parent with two kids it means it’s a bit extra I can save each month. All I would say to Mr Sunak is please make it a long term thing this time.”
The government has promised to bring in the changes to Universal Credit by December 1 this year.
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Budget: Massive Universal Credit shake-up so 2million can keep an extra £1,000 a year
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