Ministers should immediately suspend the benefit sanctions system until inflation is brought under control, a think-tank has demanded.
Research by the IPPR think-tank claims that one in 12 searching for work have had their payments docked in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis.
Using the most recent Government data from November 2022, some 100,000 people have had their benefits cut or cancelled, the organisation claimed.
The analysis found that the sanction rate for Universal Credit claimants who are “searching for work” stood at 7.9% - double the pre-pandemic level.
It also shows people on Universal Credit in the North of England are more likely to be sanctioned than in other regions of England.
The report by the IPPR comes a week after the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said at the Budget the Government would apply sanctions more “rigorously”.
The Treasury said last week the sanctions regime will be “strengthened” including for those who do not look for or take up offers of employment.
But the IPPR has called for the sanctions system to be suspended - as was the case during the first wave of the Covid crisis.
Senior Economist at the IPPR Henry Parkes said: “Sanction rates are climbing rapidly, and it seems your chances of being sanctioned are largely down to the temperament of your local JobCentre.
“We already know that sanctions can push people into destitution, so as the cost of living crisis continues it is urgent that the government pauses, rather than expands, its sanctions regime while it investigates what’s driving the rise and variation in sanction rates.
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He added: “To press ahead with even tougher sanctions when the existing system is already something of a postcode lottery, and when everyone is struggling with rising living costs, would be both foolish and unfair.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Our priority is to help people find and move into work and the latest figures show an overwhelming amount - 97.6% - of sanctions are applied simply due to claimants failing to attend mandatory appointments, not for failing to undertake work search requirements.
“Sanctions can often quickly be resolved by the claimant re-engaging with the Jobcentre and attending the next appointment.”
