Social Security Benefits
(asked on 24th June 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the current (1) weekly rates of Child Benefit, and (2) monthly rates of Universal Credit standard allowances and child elements; and what would each of those rates have been had they not been frozen for the past four years.
Work is the best route out of poverty and for people to be more financially independent. Our welfare reforms are part of the Government’s commitment to incentivise moves into work and progression in work, and to better support working families.
The Department completed an Impact Assessment titled ‘Welfare Reform and Work Bill: Impact Assessment of the Benefit rate freeze’ in July 2015 which included information surrounding the policy objectives and the intended effects. Benefits for the additional costs of disability, and for carers, are exempt from the benefit freeze.
Currently the weekly rate of Child Benefit is £20.70 for the eldest or only child and £13.70 for additional children.
Universal Credit is made up of a standard allowance and any additional amounts which apply to claimants with certain circumstances, such as dependent children. The current monthly rates for the requested Universal Credit components are shown in the tables below.
Standard allowance
Single and under 25 | £251.77 |
Single and over 25 | £317.82 |
In a couple and both under 25 | £395.20 (for both) |
In a couple and either are 25 or over | £498.89 (for both) |
Child components
For the first child | £277.08 (born before 6 April 2017) £231.67 (born on or after 6 April 2017) |
For the second or other eligible children | £231.67 |
For a disabled or severely disabled child | £126.11 or £392.08 |
We are unable to determine what each of the rates would have been had they not been subject to a freeze, as the legacy system is not comparable with Universal Credit.