Universal Credit: Employment

(asked on 6th September 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is taking steps to adjust the tapering of Universal Credit to enable workers to work more hours.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 14th September 2023

Universal Credit is designed to make work pay and there are no limits on the number of hours someone can work. The amount of Universal Credit awarded depends on the level of income and other household circumstances reported within an assessment period, rather than the number of hours worked.

We want people to see their income increase when they start working or earn more, so we reduce their Universal Credit by less than they are earning. From November 2021 the Universal Credit single taper rate of 63 per cent was reduced to 55 per cent and some claimants will also benefit from a work allowance which is the amount someone can earn before their Universal Credit award starts to reduce.

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