Charity warns benefits freeze will push South Yorkshire kids into poverty
A national charity is warning that the Government's freeze on benefits will affect thousands of families in South Yorkshire.
A four-year freeze on benefits could mean over 700,000 children in Yorkshire will end up living in poverty, with over a quarter of them here in South Yorkshire.
The Children's Society's making the warning as certain payments including Child and Working Tax Credits and Job Seekers' Allowance won't be raised in line with living costs.
Across South Yorkshire there'll be a total of around 98,000 families affected, over 63,000 of them are 'working families'.
Rob Jackson, Area Director for The Children’s Society in Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
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"Families on low incomes across Yorkshire and the Humber are facing a barrage of cuts. If ministers are genuinely concerned about child poverty they must reconsider plans to freeze benefits over the next four years. At the very least, the Government needs to guarantee there will be no further cuts when the Chancellor delivers his Budget next month.
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"Austerity has hit families hard, including those in work. Further cuts to support would push more children into poverty and undermine incentives for families to move into work or earn more."
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The move could see affected families losing up to 12% from the real value of their benefits and tax credits by 2020.
Nationally, the Children’s Society estimates that around 7.5 million children living in 4 million families across the UK will be hit by the benefits freeze.
Young parents and families with disabled children claiming Universal Credit for the first time are seen as most at risk of losing out.
The charity's given one example of a 23-year-old primary school teacher and single mum-of-two renting their home could be worse off by ÂŁ239 per month - that's ÂŁ2,868 a year.