The coalition's spending review sparked serious concerns from child poverty campaigners that families would bear the brunt of austerity measures. The Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) welfare reform white paper published this month has done little to allay these fears with its plans to move low-income families to a universal tax system and threaten the jobless with strict sanctions.
The universal benefit is intended to simplify the welfare system by replacing existing provision with a basic allowance, which includes additional elements for children. The reforms aim to reduce the number of workless households by up to 300,000, and people who fail to engage in job hunting will be sanctioned through reduced benefit payments.
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