100,000 care workers 'trapped' on Universal Credit due to low pay

At least 100,000 care workers in the UK are 'trapped' on Universal Credit due to low pay, but Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey has said she is "happy" with the incoming £20 per week cut to Universal Credit.

Work and Pensions secretary Therese Coffey. Credit: gov.uk

One in ten care workers are in receipt of in-work benefits, analysis of official data by the GMB trade union reveals. Plans by the government to cut Universal Credit payments by £20 a week this October, is expected to make struggling care workers even more worse off.

Care workers were paid just £8.72 an hour on average in England last year – with a third of care workers on zero hours contracts, rising to half in London.

Government minister 'happy' with £20 a week Universal Credit cut

Prime minister Boris Johnson has been warned that his ‘levelling up’ agenda will be hurt by the scrapping of the Universal Credit boost. However, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said she is "entirely happy" with a £20 per week cut to Universal Credit, in an interview with Sky News.

Therese Coffey called the £20 per week boost to benefits, which is due to end from October next month, as a "temporary stop-gap" during the COVID pandemic.

‘National shame’

TUC congress has debated GMB’s demand for a £15 an hour minimum for all care workers.

Kelly Andrews, GMB National Care Lead said: “It should be a source of national shame that the dedicated care workers who supported and cared for individuals and kept many alive during pandemic are paid so badly that they are on Universal Credit.

"The Government is subsidising exploitation of our care workers. GMB is campaigning for a £15 an hour minimum for care workers – the least they deserve.

"Our care sector is already facing up to 170,000 vacancies by the end of the year and a mandatory vaccine that could force thousands more away.

“With the Government’s plan to slash Universal Credit payments by £20 a week in October, we are heading for a perfect storm.”