https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disability-benefit-cuts-food-banks-trussell/
Food banks are already overwhelmed by demand for help. Disability benefit cuts will make it worse, the government has been warned
Hundreds of thousands of people living in disabled households will be at risk of needing to use a food bank if the government goes ahead with its plans for benefit cuts, new research has found.
Experts at Trussell and WPI economics have estimated that 440,000 people who are disabled or living with a disabled person would have to use a food bank by the end of the decade.
he decade.
As MPs prepare to vote on legislation to introduce the cuts, charities and disability campaigners are urging the government to rethink its plans.
Read more:
- Tens of thousands of households face a ‘triple hit’ of benefit cuts as part of Labour’s reforms
- Benefit cuts will have ‘catastrophic impact’ on mentally ill people: ‘Some will struggle to survive’
- Disabled woman forced to quit job she loves after DWP support slashed: ‘I can’t make it make sense’
Labour’s proposals include tightening the eligibility criteria for the personal independence payment (PIP), with the government estimating that around 800,000 people would see their support reduced by 2028/2029.
It also plans to freeze the health element of universal credit for current claimants, slash it in half for new claimants and cut it entirely for people under the age of 22.
Helen Barnard, director of policy at Trussell, said: “This UK government was elected on a promise of change, and with a commitment to end the need for food banks. If the government goes ahead with these ill-considered and cruel cuts to social security, this promise will not be kept – and instead, they will risk leaving behind a legacy of rising poverty and hunger.
“Tackling fiscal challenges should not be done at the expense of people already facing hunger and hardship. These cuts will force 440,000 people in disabled households into severe hardship and leave them at risk of needing a food bank. We urge the government not to continue down this damaging path.”
…
Article continues at https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disability-benefit-cuts-food-banks-trussell/
