Guarantee Our Essentials

Universal Credit is meant to be a safety net- but right now, the current rate of allowance isn’t based on an objective assessment of living costs, leaving 5 in 6 low-income households unable to afford the essentials such as food, household bills and travel costs. 

Household bills and the cost of essentials have continued to increase year after year while people’s incomes, especially those on Universal Credit, have not increased to reflect the real cost of living. 

As a result, more people are being pushed into hardship and forced to turn to food banks. Frontline organisations like ours see the impact everyday: worsening health, rising debts and growing pressure on already stretched public services.

Everyone’s circumstances can change. Losing your job, needing to care for a sick family member, breaking up with your partner – these are things that can happen to any of us. That’s why Universal Credit should offer adequate support that ensures people have enough money to take care of themselves.

We’re calling on the UK government to introduce an Essentials Guarantee – ensuring everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford life’s essentials. It would guarantee that the basic rate of Universal Credit at least covers items such as food, household bills and travel costs. It would also make sure that deductions to Universal Credit payments, such as debt repayments to the Government, never pull support below the amount people needed to afford these items. 

This is a vital moment to speak up in favour of a system that works- one that ensures no one is left choosing between heating and eating.

Click here to join the movement or learn more about Guarantee Our Essentials

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