Almost half of people (48%) claiming universal credit ran out of food last month and could not afford to buy more, a charity has found.
The Trussell Trust said its new report highlights ‘the stark consequences of the inadequacy of universal credit across the UK’.
Research by the charity revealed that nearly seven in ten (69%) people receiving the benefit were still having to borrow money or use credit to tide them over.
It also estimated that a fifth of claimants were at risk of homelessness in the last year, with more than two-thirds of these people saying they did not receive any support from their local authority.
Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie said: ‘These findings show clearly that people cannot wait for an economic turnaround to improve their current situations.’
The charity also raised concerns about the five-week wait for universal credit leading people to take out loans from the Government, which means deductions are then taken from their payments.
It urged the Government to introduce a minimum floor so that payments could not be pulled below a set level.
The call from the Trussell Trust comes after the Government announced it was extending the Household Support Fund for a further six months.
