Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, cited research showing universal credit payments of £85 a week for single adults over 25 were “grossly insufficient” and described the UK’s main welfare system as a “leaking bucket”.
He explained: “If you look at the price of housing, electricity, the very high levels of inflation for food items over the past couple of years, I believe that the £85 a week for adults is too low to protect people from poverty, and that is in violation of article nine of the international covenant on economic, social rights. That is what human rights law says.”
“Households are at least £6000 a year better off in full-time work than out of work benefits, and since 2010 there are almost 700,000 fewer children growing up in workless households, transforming their life chances.”