A change from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will see thousands of people lose their benefits as all claimants are set to be moved over to Universal Credit by the end of 2024.
Government documents have revealed that as many as 400,00 people will lose their entitlement to any claims, with even those who can still claim becoming significantly worse off.
The documents also state that 900,000 people who keep their entitlement will receive less money than they do at the moment.
This will mostly be people in receipt of Tax Credits (300,000 people) and on ESA (0.5m people).
However, 1.4 million people are set to receive more payments under the scheme, and an estimated 300,000 people who are receiving legacy benefits will see "no change".
The DWO has also said that Universal Credit makes little difference to getting people into work.
The figures revealed that the employment rate was just two percentage points higher than under Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) after nine months on Universal Credit.
Protection payments have been put in place as part of the transition to Universal Credit in an effort to prevent people's incomes from falling immediately.
However, the knock-on effect will be that their benefits are effectively frozen each April potentially for years because the transition payments will "erode" over the years as Universal Credit rises in line with inflation until it is line with what they are being paid.
This means that many claimants will not see any money in April 2023 in spite of predictions that benefits could see a rise as a result of inflation.
Other people will even lose their transition payments or even just miss them entirely if their circumstances change, for example if they move house, change job, have a break-up, or have a first child.
There will also be another cut as after the transition payments stop claimants can only return to the level of payment they had previously been on with legacy benefits not accounting for increases in inflation.
This means that people will be getting less money in real terms.
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