Within that number, 50,000 will be children, according to research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) following Labour’s Spring Statement.
This is added to the eight million adults, four million children and two million pensioners already living in poverty in the UK.
Overall, three million people will lose money from the changes to the ‘health element’ of Universal Credit, according to JRF’s study. Rachel Reeves announced that this payment will be cut to £50 per week for new claimants in 2026/27 from its current £97 per week level.
The cash boost for people unable to work due to their health will then remain the same until the end of the 2029/30 tax year. If you already receive the support, you will have the £97 per week boost frozen until the end of that period.
This will hit existing claimants’ pockets by £500 per year and £3,000 for new beneficiaries of the Government help.
Why Life Insurance Still Matters – Even During a Cost-of-Living Crisis
Sponsored by Post Office
Meanwhile, there will also be 800,000 who will lose out on Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) – the Government support that covers extra living costs from having a disability or health condition that lasts for a year or more.
You can receive this payment even if you are still working but struggle with doing certain daily tasks.
The reforms were announced earlier in March as part of an overhaul by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) into the benefits of those who cannot work, titled Pathways to Work.
Labour said the reasons for introducing the changes are to “kick-start growth” and get more people working. The policy will also raise £3.4bn for the Treasury, according to a revised total from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
After the welfare cuts were proposed last week, the Government was urged to raise finances through tax increases over cuts to disability support, but the Spring Statement included extensions to the cuts.
‘This will harm people’
Paul Kissack, chief executive of the JRF, said: “The Chancellor said today that she would not do anything to put household finances in danger, yet the Government’s own assessment shows that their cuts to health-related benefits risk pushing 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children. This will harm people, deepening the hardship they already face.
“The Chancellor also said the world has changed, and today’s announcements place the burden of that changing world on the shoulders of those least able to bear the load – the 3.2 million families left worse off by these cuts.”
Kissack added: “With living standards for the poorest under continuing assault, the Government needs to protect people from harm with the same zeal as it attempts to build its reputation for fiscal competence.”
