Universal Credit payments will increase from April next year, it has been confirmed by the Department for Work & Pensions. The increase is decided based on inflation and wage levels, as well as the cost of living crisis.
The boost comes amid findings from the University of Sussex Business School which claimed the introduction of Universal Credit “imposed large societal costs”. Each April, all payments get an increase - with a 3.1 per cent increase in place for this financial year (2022/2023). This figure was based on inflation in September 2021 but is well below the current CPI rate of 9.3 per cent.
It comes as more than eight million households have started to receive the first of two payments totalling £650 to ease cost-of-living pressures. Even with the cost of living payments, the rising cost of gas, petrol and goods on the supermarket shelf is already making life difficult for many, reports the Mirror.
