People facing ‘impossible decisions’ ahead of Xmas due to benefit caps, say charity

Today, the Department for Work and Pensions released its latest experimental statistics on how many households have had their benefits capped between 15 April 2013 and August 2021.

180,000 households had their benefits capped at August 2021, compared to 79,000 at February 2020.

This quarter’s figure of 180,000 represents a decrease of 2% on the last quarter’s 190,000 number, meaning that households had their benefits capped by an average of £54 a week, at August 2021, or £234 per month.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive at Crisis, said: “These figures once again confirm the difficulties being faced by thousands up and down the country because of the economic pressures of the pandemic. Since the time of this data, we’ve seen the cost of living and renting rapidly rising, putting people under more financial strain, and edging them even closer to homelessness.

“We cannot leave thousands of people facing impossible decisions this Christmas – forced to pick between keeping a roof over their head, putting the heating on as temperatures plummet or keeping food on the table.

“To make sure even more people are not left stuck like this, the Government must not only invest in housing benefit to ensure that it keeps pace with the real cost of renting but introduce exemptions from the benefit cap for people who are forced to sleep rough, so they can afford to find somewhere safe and secure to live.”