18.08.14
Government has broken pledge to protect pensioners – TUC
Changes to welfare and pensions will cost pensioner households a total of £6.38bn a year, according to an economic analysis commissioned by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The annual cash losses are caused by a range of government policies and decisions, including the change from RPI to CPI to calculate the uprating of benefits, the reduction in pension credit, the reduction in value of the attendance allowance, and coming changes under Universal Credit.
The study, by Howard Reed of Landman Economics, has prompted the TUC to say “the worst is yet to come”.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The government want people to think that their welfare reforms have targeted so-called scroungers, while pensioners have been spared the pain. After all, the prime minister pledged to protect pensioner benefits during the last general election campaign. The reality, however, is very different. Pensioner families have had been hit hard by the chancellor’s social security axe, with their incomes set to be slashed by over £6bn a year.”
The analysis shows the annual cuts to benefit spending on pensioner households between from 2010 to 2016-17, in 2014 prices:
- Disability benefits £340m
- Out of work benefits £20m
- Pension credit £3.85bn
- Retirement pension £1bn
- Tax credits £940m
- Child benefit £20m
- Housing benefit £230m
- TOTAL £6.38bn
- Total (including Universal Credit) £8.75bn
The TUC says this analysis shows that the government has broken its pre-election pledge to protect pensioner benefits, because a quarter of all the social security cuts announced so far affect families where at least one adult is above state pension age and where no adults below the state pension age are in paid work (but where one adult in a couple may be below state pension age and workless).
The TUC said: “Universal Credit will make unemployed men and women in their mid-60s the new so-called ‘workshy scroungers’, with many people no longer able to claim pension credit. Instead they will only be eligible for less generous working age support and will also be subject to the government’s benefit sanctions regime.”
The Landman Economics analysis uses the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to consider how families across the UK will be affected by social security changes. Its analysis does not include transitional protection, which will not be available for new claimants and will not be uprated in line with inflation.
The full analysis will be published on Thursday, 17 August.
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