Press comment – for immediate release
26 August 2021
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Citizens Advice warns frontline services are bracing for wave of hardship this autumn
In response to the Citizen’s Advice warnings today of sharp rises to household indebtedness if planned cuts to Universal Credit go ahead, Joe Cox, Senior Policy Officer at Jubilee Debt Campaign said:
“During the pandemic, levels of problem debt have risen sharply and this autumn millions of struggling households are facing a cliff edge as the government winds up Covid support measures.
Unless the government reverses the planned cut to Universal Credit and introduces a grant scheme to help those that need it to reset their finances, households up and down the country will be weighed down by years of ‘long-covid debts’. This would not only have far-reaching social impacts but will stunt any chance of a sustainable and fair economic recovery.”
For more information contact Joe Cox on +44 (0) 779 6884487
Notes
Citizens Advice frontline advisers say they are preparing for a surge in people seeking ‘crisis support’ this autumn. The charity has found that, if planned cuts to Universal Credit go ahead, 38% of those on Universal Credit would be in debt after paying just their essential bills. This rises to nearly half (49%) households on Universal Credit in ‘Red Wall’ areas. More information at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/about-us1/media/press-releases/23-million-will-be-pushed-into-the-red-by-universal-credit-cut/
Jubilee Debt Campaign is a UK charity working to end poverty caused by unjust debt through education, research and campaigning: https://www.jubileedebt.org.uk
For more information on Jubilee Debt Campaign’s proposed policy solutions to tackle Britain’s household debt crisis see https://debtjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/A-Fresh-Start-After-Covid19-web.pdf