Charities have sounded the alarm over plans to tell 600,000 low-paid workers to get more hours - or risk losing their benefits.
People on Universal Credit who work 15 to 35 hours a week for minimum wage will be “required” to meet a work coach “to increase their hours or earnings”.
The government plan is touted as encouraging people into better-paid work.
But it is understood those who fail to co-operate could be sanctioned.
The Jobcentre appointments were announced in Jeremy Hunt ’s Autumn Statement, which said a phased rollout will begin in September 2023.
Yet the £646.35-a-month cap on claimants’ childcare costs has been frozen since 2016 and won’t rise, despite inflation hitting 11.1%.
Dan Paskins of Save the Children UK warned: “Parents we work with are concerned about the fresh focus on worklessness, and worry there isn’t the right kind of support to help them get into and progress at work.
“The extortionate cost of childcare is one of the biggest barriers to employment and it wasn’t even mentioned by the Chancellor.
“With 41% of people receiving Universal Credit already in work, asking a further 600,000 people to meet with a work coach is not a sensible priority and there are now fears growing about new sanctions.”
Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Alison Garnham added: “Lots of parents need to look after their kids or have disabilities which means they simply can’t work more hours.
“Forcing them to meet over-stretched work coaches won’t address barriers like childcare costs, expensive travel, and insecure work.”
It means even more of the 2.3million Universal Credit claimants who already have a job will be told to work longer hours to reduce their benefit claim.
Until recently, any Universal Credit claimant who worked more than nine hours a week on minimum wage only had to do a “light touch” work search.
That ‘Administrative Earnings Threshold’ was raised to 12 hours a week in September, and is rising again to 15 hours a week in January.
Government officials did not immediately clarify if the AET is rising again, or if the requirement on 600,000 new claimants will be separate to it.
It was one of a flurry of welfare announcements in the Autumn Statement.
The state pension and benefits will rise by 10.1% inflation in April, handing pensioners £870 over a year and the average Universal Credit household £600.
Pension Credit will also rise by inflation in a boost and the benefit cap - frozen for six years - will finally go up from £20,000 to £22,020 outside London.
But the Treasury will net almost £600m in 2027/28 by keeping disabled people on less generous, old-style benefits for four more years to 2028.
Around 1.7million on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had been due to move over to Universal Credit by the end of 2024.
But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delayed this “managed migration” until 2028, in a move which the Treasury believes will save it money overall.
Delaying the transfer is expected to net the Treasury £25m in 2024/25, £230m in 2025/26, £445m in 2026/27, and £320m in 2027/28.
Likewise, 1.3million people on old Disability Living Allowance were moving to Personal Independence Payment - but this has been paused until 2028 too.
The change is expected to leave the Treasury £105m better off in 2024/25, £240m in 2025/26, £255m in 2026/27, and £270m better off in 2027/28.
Government officials insisted anyone on the legacy benefits who wants to apply for PIP or Universal Credit voluntarily is still free to do so.
Despite the figures suggesting people are better off overall on the new benefits, campaigners have long worried about “managed migration”.
While many claimants are better off if they move to the new system, others will end up worse off.
And once someone moves to the new-style benefit, it is too late for them to return to the legacy system, even if they are out of pocket.
