Tens of thousands of British children may be pushed into poverty by the UK government’s bid to lower the household benefit cap, a leaked memo to ministers shows.
Ministers claim that changes to the cap included in the upcoming employment and welfare benefits bill will bring fairness for the taxpayer while still offering support for those most in need, the UK-based daily Guardian reported Friday. However, according to the newspaper, an internal government estimate shows if parents are not able to find extra work, the policy will place 40,000 additional kids on or below the official poverty line, .
The civil service memo, which was marked “sensitive” and forwarded to the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith two weeks after the recent general election, predicts that “around 40,000 more … children might in the absence of any behavior change, find themselves in poverty as a result of reducing the cap to £23,000.”