Overview

• A Trussell report highlights that elevated poverty levels cost the UK economy £38.2bn annually in lost output, with additional fiscal impacts of £18.4bn in lost tax revenue and £13.7bn in public spending.
• The Labour government’s planned £5bn cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit have drawn criticism for exacerbating poverty and increasing reliance on public services.
• Trussell proposes an 'essentials guarantee' for Universal Credit, which it estimates could lift over 2 million people out of deep poverty and significantly reduce economic losses.
• The charity also calls for the abolition of the two-child benefit limit, which it claims could lift 670,000 people, including 470,000 children, out of hardship and save over £3bn in public and economic costs.
• The Department for Work and Pensions defends its reforms, emphasizing a £1bn employment support package aimed at helping over a million low-income households enter the workforce.