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To those who wish to penalise poor people, cold and hunger are signs of a perfect system | Frances Ryan
Politicians and the media have long dehumanised benefits claimants. Making their lives tougher is part of the plan
Two things are about to happen in Britain. Next month ministers will increase the value of benefits by just 3.1% – the equivalent of a real-terms cut in light of soaring inflation. At the same time, household costs will rocket: energy bills will increase by 54% from April alongside record high rents and a national insurance hike. Food price inflation is at its highest in almost a decade, while even getting tested for coronavirus is about to add £6 to the bills. The Resolution Foundation says the conflict in Ukraine will further push gas and oil inflation in UK to above 8% this spring – the biggest hit to households since the 1970s.
You don’t have to be an economist to work out what will happen next: if the money going out soars, while the money coming in shrinks in real-terms, millions of families who rely on benefits will be experiencing a socioeconomic catastrophe. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says 9 million families on benefits due to low incomes will be £500 worse off on average from April. About 400,000 people could be pulled into poverty.
Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist and author of Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People – now out on audiobook
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