Welfare
Fact checks related to the welfare of the country, the welfare state, state spending, poverty and pensions
Is Universal Credit being paid on time?
The percentage of people receiving their first universal credit payment within five or six weeks has increased since January.
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Do pension changes mean 37 million people working longer?
How many people will be affected by government proposals to bring forward the rise in the state pension age by seven years?
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Does the government spend £50 billion a year on disabled people?
The government spends around £50 billion on benefits which either go wholly or in part to disabled people, people with health conditions and their carers, including housing benefit and income …
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Are people with mental health conditions now receiving higher disability benefit payments?
A greater share of people claiming disability benefits because of mental health conditions are receiving the higher rate, but that doesn’t mean that those claiming these benefits are all better …
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What is the "rape clause"?
The Conservatives have introduced a two-child cap on Child Tax Credit, which includes an exception for conception during non-consensual sex or sex in an abusive relationship.
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Pensioners in poverty
Latest figures suggest two million pensioners are in relative poverty, but the rate is much lower than it was decades ago.
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Are 40% of welfare claimants pensioners?
There aren't readily-available estimates for the proportion of all welfare claimants who are pensioners or of working age.
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“Average working families” and the Budget
This week’s Budget won’t make “average working families” £1,400 worse off, although that’s roughly the right ballpark for the long-term impact of tax and benefit changes.
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Amendments to PIP legislation
People who were assessed for Personal Independence Payments before the tribunal decisions on 29 November won’t see their payments fall because the legislation has been amended.
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Disability benefits: spending on the rise?
Overall spending on disability benefits is forecast to increase in the coming years, even after inflation is taken into account.
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