The Catholic Union has urged the Chancellor not to cut spending on social security this year as the uplift in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits is due to end.
The Catholic Union has described the £20 uplift as a “lifeline” to millions of people during the pandemic, but the Chancellor has said the policy will only last until the end of this month.
The decision to increase payments has been estimated by the Office of Budget Responsibility to have cost the Treasury an additional £6 billion per year on welfare spending.
The Chancellor announced the uplift in March last year to “strengthen the safety net” for those facing financial hardship as a result of Covid.
The Catholic Union has argued that the increase in spending should be maintained to help struggling families recover from the pandemic. The Centre for Social Justice has estimated that family breakdown costs the taxpayer £51 billion per year.
In a letter to Chancellor, the Catholic Union has called for the uplift to be maintained or for the cost of the uplift to be spent on tax breaks and spending to support families, such as scrapping the two-child cap on the childcare element of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits.
Read the letter here: Letter to Rishi Sunak 03.09.21