Northern Ireland

End of social security mitigation package 'will plunge households into a crisis from next April'

The biggest annual average losses are in some of the poorest homes, and `especially dramatic' for lone parents
The biggest annual average losses are in some of the poorest homes, and `especially dramatic' for lone parents The biggest annual average losses are in some of the poorest homes, and `especially dramatic' for lone parents

LONE parents and families with at least one disabled child are losing up to £2,250 a year under new welfare reforms, according to a report published today.

The research, published by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), looks at the impact of tax and social security reforms in Northern Ireland since their introduction in 2010 and tracks it through to everything planned until 2022.

It also analyses, for the first time, the value of the `mitigations package' agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive.

Chief commissioner Les Allamby warned the end of the measures "will plunge households into a crisis from next April" if they are not replaced with alternative aid.

The deal to ease the impact of welfare reform included a subsidy to the bedroom tax and is due to end on March 31 2020 - a date campaigners are describing as a "cliff edge".

The report's authors Landman Economics and Aubergine Analysis set out the impact of reforms on different income groups and family groups by age, gender and disability.

It finds the biggest annual average losses are in some of the poorest homes, and "especially dramatic" for lone parents, who have lost around £2,250 and households with at least one disabled child, who experience average losses of around £2,000 per year.

Households with three or more children experience average losses of around £2,575 per year.

The average losses for households with one child is £50.

Women are more badly affected than men because they are more likely to be receiving tax credits and other social security benefits than men.

Chief commissioner Les Allamby said the research shows "the broadest backs are not bearing the heaviest load" and the effect on families with more than two children has been "devastating".

"We need a tax and social security system which provides help where it is most needed - for those on low incomes," he said.

"The freezing of many social security benefits for four years, and continuing Universal Credit to two children only, has had a devastating impact on claimants and their children. Adult and child poverty is set to rise.

"The research shows that the mitigations package, including not applying the bedroom tax and benefit cap for families, has made a significant impact. If the mitigations are not replaced, we will plunge those households into a crisis from next April.

"The right to an adequate standard of living is an important human right and that is not being met. The research provides a recommended package for renewed mitigations which is costed and evidence-based, and builds on what we have now."

The full report will be available on the Commission's website www.nihrc.org