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Government minister tells everyone losing £20 Universal Credit payment to ‘work more hours’
‘I’m conscious that £20 a week is about two hours’ extra work every week’
A government minister has told people losing the £20 Universal Credit top up to ‘work more hours’ to make up the difference.
The additional £20 a week was brought in as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the government now planning to scrap it.
The Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey has suggested that people who will lose the payment under the government’s plans should just work extra hours instead.
Ms Coffey spoke to BBC Breakfast, saying: “I’m conscious that £20 a week is about two hours’ extra work every week – we will be seeing what we can do to help people perhaps secure those extra hours, but ideally also to make sure they’re also in a place to get better paid jobs as well.”
Pressed on the point, she added: “It’s a temporary uplift recognising the reason that it was introduced is coming to an end.”
The MP added that the nation is ‘seeing record numbers of vacancies’.
The £20 increase is set to be cut from the end of the month, with recipients set to lose up to £1,040 annually if Boris Johnson goes ahead and scraps it.
While Ms Coffey defended the move to end payments, saying it was always ‘temporary’, there have been calls to keep the extra money in place due to worries it would pile additional pressure on struggling families.