Tag: benefits
Reeves squeezes benefits as 2025 growth forecast halved
Rachel Reeves has squeezed the welfare budget further and boosted defence spending in a Spring Statement aimed at kick-starting the faltering economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – the government’s financial watchdog – halved its growth forecast for this year to 1%. The chancellor blamed global instability, arguing that the world was “changing before…
At-a-glance: The key changes to the benefits system
The government has announced plans for major changes to the benefits system aimed at cutting the growing amount the UK spends on welfare. Pip is paid to people in England and Wales who have difficulty completing everyday tasks or getting around as a result of a long-term physical or mental health condition. It is not…
Labour’s plan for benefits throws up a bigger dilemma
In the next 24 hours and then over the following fortnight up until the Spring Statement, the government is going to talk a lot about a broken welfare system that is failing the people who use it, the economy and taxpayers. Taking a tough call on fixing it goes against the instincts of much of…
Plan to freeze PIP disability benefits may be dropped
Ministers are considering abandoning plans to freeze some disability benefits, the BBC understands. Initial reports had suggested Personal Independence Payments (PIP) would not rise in line with inflation for a year, but many usually loyal Labour MPs have voiced strong opposition in meetings in No10, as well as to party whips and ministers. The eligibility…
Millions of public workers are set to get higher Social Security benefits. Here’s why
Juliana Kim A new bill signed into law by President Biden will increase Social Security payments for nearly three million current and former public employees. The law, named the Social Security Fairness Act, repeals a pair of provisions that had limited benefits for recipients with other pensions. That means workers who previously received reduced payments,…
New study reveals seaweed’s hidden climate benefits
Humble seaweed is having a moment. It’s been heralded as a sustainable superfood, a biodegradable replacement for plastic packaging and a feed supplement to cut cows’ methane emissions. Now, new research shows that seaweed forests — such as massive underwater towers of kelp — may play a bigger role in fighting climate change than previously…