Millions of Universal Credit claimants have been left in limbo after the Chancellor refused to confirm whether the emergency £20 a week boost would be extended past April 2021.
The £20 a week boost - introduced this year to support 6million people facing hardship due to the pandemic - is due to end in spring 2021.
Right now, the extra payment equates to £1,040 a year for those on the lowest incomes – enough to keep many families afloat.
However, despite warning that unemployment could top 3million next summer, Sunak refused to confirm whether the extra support would be extended.
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Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said a decision has not yet been made on whether to keep the £20 UC boost as she announced the full rate of the new State Pension will be worth £179.60 per week from 2021.
Sources hinted that an announcement could be made in the New Year.
However, Work and Pensions Committee Chair Stephen Timms MP, said households are facing an uncertain Christmas without any clear guidance.
"Millions of people on Universal Credit are now facing the Christmas period in agonising uncertainty, not knowing whether the government will cut their income by £20 a week next April,” he said.
Becca Lyon, head of child poverty at Save the Children, said the extra £20 offers a lifeline to many families who have lost their incomes since March.
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"It's hugely disappointing that the UK government has decided not to reassure families today that they will not lose this increase to their benefits from April next year," she said.
"Parents tell us they’re already having to go without meals or electricity when their money runs out – they simply cannot afford to lose over £1,000 a year.
"Something has gone badly wrong if we’re taking money away from struggling families in the midst of a pandemic."
Thomas Lawson, chief executive at Turn2us, said: "For a society that believes in compassion and fairness, the lack of commitment to maintaining the vital £20 uplift of Universal Credit will make it impossible for so many of us to get back on our feet.”
Action for Children’s director of policy and campaigns, Imran Hussain, added: "It's not right that low-income families face a £1,000 cut to their Universal Credit help from next year – adding even more stress to a second lockdown, the arrival of winter and with Christmas around the corner.
"The Government must put this right now to prevent a generation of children from being scarred by poverty and the pandemic, which would carry significant long term costs to the public finances."
In another slap in the face for 2million households, Sunak today said benefit payments will rise just 37p in April.
So-called 'legacy' benefits as well as those for carers will rise by just 0.5%, the latest rate of CPI inflation, for 2021/22.
That means a rise of just 37p a week to the £74.35 standard rate of Jobseekers' Allowance or sickness and disability benefit Employment and Support Allowance
The rise for children and under-25s looks set to be even smaller, and the separate Carer's Allowance looks set to rise by just 34p.
Meanwhile, the state pension will rise by 2.5%.
