Only 4% of the households subjected to the government’s benefits cap included no children and 59% were single parent families, the PCS says.
The latest figures out [Thursday] also reveal:
- In November 2013, 26,674 families had their benefits cut by up to £250 a week, which the union says is a staggering amount of money to lose
- Only two of the top 20 local authorities for households affected by the cap were outside London (Birmingam 6th and Manchester 20th), showing the extent to which families are being priced out of renting in the capital
The union is still waiting for work and pensions minister Iain Duncan Smith to take up its challenge to prove that anyone is better off on benefits than in work.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The benefits cap is a cruel and pernicious attack on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our communities.
“It is cruel because, being linked to housing benefit, it punishes people for sky high rents beyond their control and pernicious because it is built on the lie that people are choosing a life on social security.”
