#Gov @Number10gov accused of forcing #unemployed into #financial black hole under #benefits rules @jrf_uk David Cameron have been accused of pushing nearly 300,000 people into the clutches of #payday #lenders when changes to benefit rules come into force this week. George Osborne announced last year that the newly unemployed workers would have to wait a full week before making a claim rather than the current three days. The move will trim about £50m from welfare spending next year. An impact assessment of the policy by the Government’s social security advisory committee says some 280,000 new recipients of Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will bear the brunt of the cuts. It said: “The number of new claimants likely to be most at risk of suffering financial hardship are around 245,000 in JSA and 35,000 in ESA.” It calculated that JSA claimants would lose around £40 each and ESA claimants around £50 each. Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: “Some people who lose their jobs will have access to resources and money that means they dont necessarily need to claim and will get back into work again quickly. However, for many the relatively small amounts on offer are a #lifeline and waiting longer to receive this could push them into #hardship, compounding their problems and making it harder to get back to work, not easier as policy intends.”
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:30:59 +0000
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