The new reduced benefit cap: how it works and who it affects Read moreAlana and Mark are not alone in being handed such a brutal choice. Estimates vary, but between 88,000 and 116,000 struggling UK households have received similar benefit cap letters from the DWP in recent weeks. The benefit cap was originally introduced by the coalition government as a device to supposedly “restore fairness” to the benefit system by limiting total household benefit income to no more than the average working family income of £26,000 a year. The new cap will be rolled out across the UK between now and February, affecting about four times as many households as its predecessor. This callous benefit cap reduction will hit families hard this Christmas Read moreMeanwhile, Alana notes that her private landlord has just served a notice saying the family’s rent is going up by £25 a month.

Source: The Guardian November 06, 2016 20:24 UTC