Tackling poverty

It is a priority of the Conservative Government to tackle poverty and from next month we will start injecting an extra £4.5 billion into Universal Credit and also give the country’s lowest earners their biggest pay rise in 20 years.

Key facts: 

  • While we know work is the best route out of poverty, some people still need more support. That’s why we spend £95 billion a year on working-age benefits and are increasing support for those on low incomes. 
  • We’ve injected almost £10 billion into welfare since 2016 to – around half of which will come into effect next month. 
  • We introduced and are increasing the National Living Wage, which will rise to £8.21 an hour from 1 April 2019 – giving the UK’s lowest earners their biggest pay rise in 20 years. 
  • We will increase the amount people can earn before their tax is deducted to £12,500 in April – a tax cut for 32 million people and taking nearly 2 million of the lowest paid out income tax altogether. 

Why this matters:

No one wants to see poverty rising and we take this issue very seriously. For most people, work is the best route out of poverty, but we know some people struggle to get by and we will look at what more can be done to help the most vulnerable as tackling poverty will always be a priority.

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