Those on low or no sick pay face ‘impossible choice’ between hardship and potentially spreading virusMore than 250,000 workers were self-isolating last month without decent sick pay or any sick pay at all, a trade union study has suggested.The Trades U…
The Observer view on benefit cuts | Observer editorial
The goverment’s erosion of financial support for low-paid parents consigns their children to a life of povertyThe government enacted the biggest ever overnight benefit cut last week. In one fell swoop, low-paid parents and unpaid carers of disabled peo…
Keir Starmer: universal credit cut is an attack on the poorest
Labour leader says Boris Johnson’s decision to remove £20 uplift comes at ‘worst possible time’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson has been accused by Keir Starmer of “turning on the poorest” as Britain eases out o…
EU citizens face losing benefits if they fail to update DWP profile
People unaware they need to input code on universal credit website could drop off system, charities warnEU citizens on benefits could lose their universal credit in three weeks time unless they evidence their right to be in the UK, charity workers have…
Food banks warn of smaller parcels due to HGV supply shortages
Exclusive: declining stocks and expected higher demand for charity could see struggling families given less in their food parcelsFood banks have said they will have to shrink the size of the parcels they give to struggling families owing to declining s…
Gordon Brown warns 3.5m households face fuel poverty this winter
Former prime minister says 2021 ‘worst time to be poor’ as he calls for support for struggling householdsThe former prime minister Gordon Brown has demanded fresh government financial support for households struggling to pay energy bills as he warned a…
After years of cruelty to people on welfare, is the UK starting to think differently? | John Harris
The universal credit uplift is about to end, but there are signs that politicians’ talk of people ‘milking it’ will no longer cut itHere it comes. This Wednesday, the Department for Work and Pensions will finally end the £20-a-week “uplift” to universa…
Universal credit cut will cost carers for disabled £1,000 a year
More than 300,000 people will be hit by the end of the £20 temporary increase in the benefit, government figures showMore than 300,000 unpaid carers of disabled people face a £1,000 annual benefit cut from next month due to the withdrawal of the univer…
Children will pay the price for universal credit cut | Letters
The benefit reduction will affect child welfare services and only cost more later down the line, says Emily Aklan, while Sabine Goodwin says food banks will struggle to copeYour article (Universal credit cut will lead to more UK children in care – stud…
Why do children in Britain always bear the brunt of Tory cuts? | Polly Toynbee
With such a cold and unfeeling government, it’s little wonder our birthrate is fallingThis is no country for babies. It’s no surprise the birthrate keeps falling when would-be parents face impossible obstacles. As in the 1930s, it happens in hard times…