benefits

Sanctions make it harder for benefit claimants to find work, new research finds

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/08/sanctions-make-it-harder-for-benefit-claimants-to-find-work-new-research-finds/

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

“Demanding compliance from people means they end up jumping through hoops rather than finding jobs that are a good fit for them”

Benefit sanctions make it harder for claimants to find a good job, new research has found. According to the research carried out by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the majority of people required to attend job centres to access benefits think that being sanctioned undermines their ability to find a good job.

According to a report in PoliticsHome, NEF commissioned polling of unemployed people receiving universal credit and required to attend job centre appointments found that 61 per cent said the threat of sanctions found it harder for them to have a trusting relationship with support services. That figure is higher for unemployed people who are also disabled – at 69%. 63% also said that the threat of sanctions negatively impacted their mental health, rising to 73% for disabled people.

Welfare claimants were also likely to report negative experiences of attending job centre appointments. 73 per cent reported that their first meeting at the job centre focused on the rules and obligations placed on claimants. 59 per cent also said they felt that the job centre wanted them to get a job as quickly as possible, rather than finding a role which was a good fit.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/08/sanctions-make-it-harder-for-benefit-claimants-to-find-work-new-research-finds/

Continue ReadingSanctions make it harder for benefit claimants to find work, new research finds

Free school meals scheme extended to every primary school pupil in London

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/free-school-meals-scheme-extended-to-every-primary-school-pupil-in-london

THE Mayor of London unveiled an emergency scheme today to extend free school meals to every primary school pupil in the capital for one year.

Sadiq Khan said the one-off £130m programme, which comes into effect from September, is an effort to help struggling households amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Funded by extra business rates income, it is estimated the move will help about 270,000 primary school pupils and save families in London about £440 per child over the year.

Currently, households in England receiving universal credit must earn less than £7,400 a year before benefits and after tax to qualify for free school meals.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/free-school-meals-scheme-extended-to-every-primary-school-pupil-in-london

Continue ReadingFree school meals scheme extended to every primary school pupil in London

Universal Credit forces people to use foodbanks

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Universal Credit was is Iain Duncan Smith’s project to do away with many ‘legacy’ benefits for them to be replaced with one benefit. Affecting low-paid workers as well an non-workers, UC is a terrible mess and not fit for purpose.

It is disappointing that Citizens’ Advice Bureaux have accepted £51M (39?) from the government to advise UC claimants.

Foodbank use to soar after next stage of universal credit, Trussell Trust warns

GOVERNMENT plans to move more people onto universal credit (UC) could lead to a huge increase in those turning to foodbanks to survive, the Trussell Trust warned yesterday.

The charity, which runs more than 400 foodbanks across Britain, said that demand in areas where UC has been in place for at least 12 months has increased by 52 per cent, compared with 13 per cent in areas where the new benefit has been in place for three months or less.

Benefit problems are the main reason for referrals to receive emergency food supplies, the trust said, adding that people moving onto UC account for a rising proportion of foodbank referrals.

Waits for the first payment and the shift to the new system have been blamed for causing hardship.

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Continue ReadingUniversal Credit forces people to use foodbanks

Theresa May lies, John McDonnell says Labour to dump Universal Credit

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Theresa May lies claiming that austerity is over at her Rich Scum party speech.

 

Labour will scrap universal credit, John McDonnell declares

“I think we are moving to a position now where it is just not sustainable. It will have to go.”

Mr McDonnell accused Prime Minister Theresa May and the Tories on Saturday of lying in their claim to the public that austerity has ended.

The shadow chancellor, who spoke at an anti-austerity rally in Pudsey, Leeds, told the Morning Star: “We will be holding the government to account. This is the third time in two years the government has announced the end to austerity.

“The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that 75 per cent of welfare cuts are still to come, so if they are serious about ending austerity, in his coming budget Philip Hammond should get up and announce the end of cuts to welfare.

“He clearly will not — and we will be exposing what is effectively a lie.

“Three times they have announced the end, yet there are still cuts coming to welfare benefits, school budgets and local authority budgets in particular.”

Continue ReadingTheresa May lies, John McDonnell says Labour to dump Universal Credit