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An empty swing in a children's play area
THE government’s lack of support is plunging people deeper into poverty during a difficult Covid winter, with research today exposing the hundreds of thousands of children living in destitution.
In total, about 2.4 million people experienced extreme hardship in 2019, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has revealed.
The JRF said the figure represents an “appalling” rise of 54 per cent over 2017 levels and includes 550,000 children, a 52 per cent increase in the two years to 2019.
Plans to delay access to the universal credit health element until age 22 have triggered fierce opposition from disabled people’s groups, who warn it would deepen poverty and entrench discrimination against young disabled people under the guise of ‘encouraging work.’ DYLAN MURPHY reports
DYLAN MURPHY reports that far from helping people back into work, the sanctions regime is inflicting unnecessary trauma on working-class families
A new report from the Citizens Advice destroys the government narrative about disabled people ‘choosing’ not to work, showing the £3,000 annual cuts will create a two-tiered system based on claim dates rather than needs, writes DYLAN MURPHY