Benefit and pension rates are going up very soon, the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed, meaning those claiming could well be getting more money each month.
The standard amount for a single person over the age of 25 on universal credit, for example, is increasing from £323.22 per month to £324.84 per month. If you're under 25, that increase is from £256.05 per month to £257.33 per month. Each amount is therefore increasing by 0.5%.
Statutory sick pay rises from £95.85 per week to £96.35 (up 0.5%).
For the personal independence payment (PIP), the standard daily living component will go up from £59.70 to £60 per week (up 0.5%), while the standard mobility component increases from £23.60 to £23.70 per week (up 0.4%).
Jobseeker's allowance for those over 25 increases from £74.35 per week to £74.70, a rise of 0.5%.
State pensions (new-style) see the biggest increase. They'll rise from £175.20 to £179.60 per week (up 2.5%).
These new payment amounts, which you can see a full list of here, take effect from April 6, 2021 and will last until the end of the tax year, April 5, 2022. They come alongside an inflation rate of 0.7% at the latest count (the 12 months ending February 2021), according to the Office for National Statistics.
Pensions usually rise faster than other measures of inflation due to the triple lock, which is a government commitment to uprate pensions each year by the highest of: average earnings increase, the inflation rate, or 2.5%. As average earnings have decreased and inflation has stalled due to the pandemic, that means the government has increased pensions by 2.5%.
On the other hand, it has undertaken to increase benefits by 0.5%.
Elsewhere, if you're a benefit claimant, remember your money could be paid early this Easter due to the bank holidays.
