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Covid 'Devastating' Families As 60% Of Single Parents Claim Universal Credit

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The Covid-19 pandemic has been described as “devastating” for single parents as fresh data shows more than one million now rely on Universal Credit.

New data, published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), reveals that 170,000 more single parents have been forced to claim the benefit in the first four months since the pandemic hit.

Meanwhile, 285,000 parents part of a couple have enrolled for the benefit since the outbreak.

The figures mean that 58% of all single parents and 10% of couple parents are now claiming UC, and charities are warning of a child poverty epidemic.

Campaigners have repeatedly underlined that the disappearance of part-time work and gaps in childcare provision mean that single parents, who are predominantly women, have been hit harder by the economic impact of the virus.

Government statistics show that overall a total of 5.5million people are now claiming UC.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak now faces calls to lift the benefit cap and help single parents in order to ward off a fresh child poverty crisis.

Victoria Benson, chief executive of charity Gingerbread, which supports single parent families, said the figures highlight “the devastating impact the pandemic is having on single parents”.

She added: “We know single parents have been hit disproportionately hard as they are more likely to work in shut-down sectors, they are more reliant on part-time work and the gaping childcare hole in the government’s response to Covid-19 has forced many to stay at home as they can’t access childcare.

“All of this has put many single parents on a fast track to unemployment. It is also no coincidence that the spike in single parents claiming UC has coincided with the largest decrease in employment in over a decade and the biggest fall in hours worked since records began – both of which were driven significantly by...

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