Welfare, work and pensions

Cost of living payments

The government will provide households on means-tested benefits with an additional £900 cost of living payment in 2023/24. Pensioner households will receive an additional £300 and individuals on disability benefits will receive an additional £150.

Uprating of benefits

The government will increase benefits in line with inflation, including the state pension. The standard minimum income guarantee in pension credit will also increase in line with inflation from April 2023.

Comment

Around 19 million families will see their benefit payments increase from April 2023.

Raising the benefit cap

The benefit cap will be raised in line with inflation, so that more households will see their payments increase as a result of uprating from April 2023. The cap will be raised from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally and from £23,000 to £25,323 in Greater London. For single adults it will be raised from £13,400 to £14,753 nationally and from £15,410 to £16,967 in Greater London.

National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage uprating

The government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage from 1 April 2023 as follows:

• the rate for 23 year olds and over to £10.42 an hour
• the rate for 21-22 year olds to £10.18 an hour
• the rate for 18-20 year olds to £7.49 an hour
• the rate for 16-17 year olds to £5.28 an hour and
• the apprentice rate to £5.28 an hour.

Comment

This represents an increase of over £1,600 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW and is expected to benefit over two million low paid workers.

In-work conditionality for Universal Credit claimants

The government will bring forward the nationwide rollout of the In-Work Progression Offer, starting with a phased rollout from September 2023, to support individuals on Universal Credit (UC) and in work to increase their earnings and move off benefits entirely. This will mean that over 600,000 claimants on UC whose household income is typically between the equivalent of 15 and 35 hours a week at the NLW will be required to meet with a dedicated work coach in a Jobcentre Plus to increase their hours or earnings.