Cost of living crisis: UK benefits plunge to lowest value in 50 years

theguardian.com:

Pensioners and benefits claimants will see the value of their payments fall to the lowest point in 50 years on Monday, anti-poverty campaigners have said, as Britons grapple with the worst cost of living crisis since 1972.

Despite everyday prices rising as much as 8%, and gas and electricity bills almost doubling to £2,000 a year, the state pension and most other state benefits will rise by 3.1% on Monday.

Charities, Labour and others have called on the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to do more to help those on middle and low incomes get through the crisis.

So far ministers have resisted calls to restore the £20-a-week uplift to universal credit that was introduced during the pandemic but then removed just as prices started rising dramatically last autumn.

The money-saving expert Martin Lewis said on Sunday that the UK could experience “civil unrest” later this year if the government fails to take decisive action.

Ministers announced in November that the state pension, universal credit and a host of other benefits would rise by 3.1%. The figure was calculated according to the consumer price index (CPI) for the year up to September 2021.

The increase means that the basic state pension will rise by £4.25 to £141.85 per week, while the full new state pension will rise by £5.55 to £185.15.

A single person aged 25 will see their universal credit allowance rise from £324.84 to £334.91 per month, totalling £4,019 a year. Child benefit rises 68p per week for the eldest child.

However, since September the price of most essentials has rocketed. According to the latest UK economic outlook report from PwC, British households are set to be £900 worse off this year in a “historic fall” in living standards. It found that inflation will hit 8.4%