{"id":22921,"date":"2022-05-04T13:58:02","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T13:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=22921"},"modified":"2022-05-10T18:57:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T18:57:16","slug":"was-the-tories-20-cut-to-universal-credit-the-biggest-overnight-drop-in-welfare-since-world-war-ii%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/economy\/was-the-tories-20-cut-to-universal-credit-the-biggest-overnight-drop-in-welfare-since-world-war-ii%ef%bf%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"Was the Tories\u2019 \u00a320 cut to Universal Credit the biggest overnight drop in welfare since World War II?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The SDLP manifesto for the 2022 Assembly election claims:<\/a> \u201cThe \u00a320 Universal Credit cut marked the largest overnight welfare cut since World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is accurate, with some provisos – mainly that making economic comparisons between different moments in time can be tricky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are the facts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overnight cut<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In October 2021 the UK government decided to remove the \u00a320 \u2018uplift\u2019 in benefits payments that had been in place for around 18 months since the beginning of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 2021, anticipating the uplift\u2019s removal, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF UK)<\/a> published an analysis of the impact of cutting benefits payments by \u00a320 every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The organisation also published an article with a headline claiming the UK was \u201cheading for the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since WWII\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, its analysis<\/a> focused on the period after the formation of the modern welfare state, three years after the end of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, their work actually<\/em> calculated that this would be the biggest overnight cut to benefits since 1948, not 1945.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JRF UK said: \u201cWe have reviewed officially published data on rates of benefits stretching back to 1948 (when the Beveridge system was introduced), in particular, the main element of support for a single adult aged over 25 who has lost their job. It is possible that the cut this October could be the biggest cut ever, though we have not looked in detail at the period before 1948.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is more information available?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wider look<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In September 2021, The Resolution Foundation<\/a> carried out its own analysis of the impact of the \u00a320<\/a> cut, which it described as \u201cone of the largest ever benefit reductions overall\u201d and \u201cperhaps\u201d also \u201cthe biggest to happen overnight\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It found that some other adjustments have led to, or will lead to, larger reductions over time – but those involve gradual changes. The removal of the uplift represents the biggest overnight, incremental cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n