More than three million people will lose around £1,700 each as a result of the government’s cuts to benefits, it has been revealed.
Analysis by the Department for Work and Pensions shows the impact of the welfare reforms will be far more severe than originally thoughts.
Rachel Reeves wants to reduce the welfare bill by £5 billion, mainly by making it harder for people to claim Personal Independence Payments.
The chancellor unveiled a further £500 million of cuts in her Spring Statement after the Office for Budget Responsibility said the government’s initial plans would not raise enough money.
According to the DWP’s own impact assessment of the cuts, 3.2 million families – including current and future benefit claimants – will lose an average of £1,720 a year.
However, a further 3.8 million families will gain an average of £420 a year, they said.
Overall, the DWP assessment says the welfare cuts will push an additional 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – into relative poverty.
Campaigners protested outside Downing Street as the chancellor made her way to parliament to deliver her economic update to MPs.
James Taylor, director of strategy at the charity Scope, said: “Today the chancellor confirmed a plan to massively cut disability benefits and as a result lower the living standards of disabled people, pushing more into poverty.
“It is obvious these cuts are simply about saving money and not by the ‘moral’ desire to get more people into work.
“The government needs to listen to disabled people and understand the catastrophic impact these decision will have on their lives.”
James Watson-O’Neill, chief executive of the national disability charity Sense, said: “It’s difficult to see the proposed welfare reforms as anything other than a cost-cutting measure, and we are deeply concerned that the government is attempting to balance the books at the expense of disabled people.
“The independent impact assessment on welfare reform paints a stark picture, surpassing even our worst fears – with millions of disabled people at risk of losing vital financial support, and those already most vulnerable set to be hit the hardest.
“Sense is particularly concerned that three million people who have been assessed as unable to work could face a loss of nearly £2,000 a year in benefits.
“Many of these individuals already struggle to afford essential equipment and support, with half of those affected by these changes going without necessary items due to financial constraints. For these people, further cuts would be catastrophic.”
Dan Paskins of Save the Children UK said: “It is a political choice to plunge 50,000 more children into poverty by the end of this parliament, as a result of the health and disability benefit cuts.
“This news will be devastating for families across the country struggling to make ends meet. The UK government committed to tackling child poverty, and right now it is rising.
“At the moment, this will be the first Labour government likely to oversee a significant rise in the number of children in poverty.”
But the chancellor told MPs that the welfare system “is not working” and needed reform.
She said: “When you’ve got one in eight young people not in education, employment or training, 1,000 people going onto Personal Independence Payments every single day. We can’t carry on like this.
“The basic principles of this government is that people who need support should be protected.
“Those who can work should work, and we will support them with personalised targeted support, and that we need a system that is sustainable. That is what the reforms set out by deliver last week.”
Reeves said “there will be further consultation” on providing extra support for those most in need of it.”
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