By Over 200 households in North East Lincolnshire face ‘broken’ benefits cap
There have been around 200 North East Lincolnshire families that have been hit by the benefit cap, following the rising cost of living.
Hundreds of children across the region are in the households affected by the introduced limit, the most recent figures from the Department for Work and Pensions have said.
The Child Poverty Action Group has said the cap system is “broken”.
The cap was first introduced in 2013 to limit the amount of financial help most people can get. There were 232 households included in the limitations for North East Lincs in February, down from 388 a year earlier.
In February’s cap, there were around 850 children affected by the cap, but the DWP said those included in the figures may not be dependent children.
It shows that 1.2% of households claiming benefits had their overall amount capped, which was below 1.5% in February 2020. The cap is £20,000 a year, which is £13,400 for single adults with no children. The households had their benefits capped by an average of £42.27 per week.
The data analyzed by CPAG states that 86% of capped households had children, also estimating an additional 35,000 families could have their benefits capped next April.
Alison Garnham, the group’s chief executive, said: “The cost of living crisis shows that the benefit cap is broken, and needs to go.
“it has always forced families to live on much less than they need, but as prices spiral the effects are brutal and 298,000 children are amount its casualties. In his cost-of-living support package, the Chancellor recognized that families subject to the cap face the same cost pressures as everybody else.
“By the same logic, the cap must be removed to help the worst off families stay afloat. Next April’s uprating must be available to every family on benefits, as a bare minimum layer of protection against dramatically higher living costs.”
A DWP spokesman said the benefit cap provided a “strong work incentive”.
“We keep the cap under review and any revision would align with the timing of decisions on uprating benefits, with changes taking effect the following April.”
