DBC report: the pandemic and legacy benefits
February 03, 2021
The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), a group made up of over 100 charities including the MS Society, Parkinson’s UK, and ourselves, has published a report on how the pandemic has impacted the finances of disabled people.
The report, titled Pandemic Poverty: Stark choices facing people on legacy benefits, brought together findings from a survey conducted by the DBC and highlights the need to permanently extend the Universal Credit £20 uplift to legacy benefits. We have collaborated on this since the start of the pandemic and we firmly believe that this extra support would make a huge difference to people with M.E. in receipt of this benefit. This is based on findings from the survey that include:
- 82% of respondents said they had spent more than they normally would since the Covid-19 crisis began
- two-thirds of people said they had to go without essentials like food, heating or medication as a result of increased costs since the Covid-19 crisis began
- nearly half (44%) said they had fallen behind on critical financial commitments like rent, mortgage payments, or household bills.
The Chancellor will present the next Budget at the beginning of March 2021. The DBC fear terrible consequences if Government fails to announce financial support for legacy benefits claimants in the March Budget.
You can read more on the DBC website. In the next four weeks, we can build momentum to persuade the Chancellor to increase Universal Credit by spreading the word and sharing links to the DBC report.
