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UNIVERSAL CREDIT cash is to be boosted as the standard allowance is to be raised by £1,000 a year, the chancellor has announced this evening.
Working tax credit will be upped by the same amount – both for 12 months.
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The measures are part of a plan to help workers and the unemployed during the coronavirus outbreak.
Rishi Sunak says 4million vulnerable households will benefit as a result of the shake-up to Universal Credit and other state welfare.
In addition, he has suspended the Universal Credit minimum income floor for everyone affected by coronavirus.
He says this will enable more self-employed people to access the benefit at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay for workers.
The safety net will be further strengthened by extra help for renters who may struggle with payments over the coming months.
The government has pledging nearly £1billion for renters by increasing housing benefit and Universal Credit so the local housing allowance covers at least 30 per cent of market rents.
The Universal Credit standard allowance currently ranges between £251.77 a month and £498.89 a month depending on your age and whether or not you’re part of a couple.
If you’re on Universal Credit for a year, that’s worth between £3,021.24 and £5,986.68.
You can get extra on top if you have children, a disability or health condition, or you care for someone with a disability.
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The basic amount for working tax credit, meanwhile, is up to £1,960 a year.
Again, your then get extra – known as “elements” – on top depending on whether you’re in a couple, have children, a disability, and how many hours you work.
The Universal Credit minimum income floor, meanwhile, applies to those who’ve been self-employed for more than a year.
This minimum income floor is the amount you’re thought to earn each month, and will therefore affect how much you get in Universal Credit on top.
If you earn below this level in any month, you are treated as earning the minimum income floor.
If you are earning more than the minimum income floor, your actual earnings are taken into account instead.
The idea is that the minimum income floor is the equivalent of someone of your age working full time on minimum wage.
Ahead of the welfare announcements, Mr Sunak said: “We’re starting a great national effort to protect jobs but the truth is we are already seeing job losses and there may be more to come.
“I cannot promise you that no one will face hardship in the weeks ahead.”
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