The Trussell Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have launched a new campaign, calling on the UK government to Guarantee our Essentials.
We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and yet people here in Lambeth are going without the essentials we all need to get by.
Everyone’s circumstances can change. Losing your job, needing to care for a sick family member, breaking up with your partner – these are things that can happen to any of us. You can read about one personal experience of circumstances changing and how it affected one of our clients here.
That’s why Universal Credit should offer support to anyone in need of help, but right now it’s not providing enough to cover the cost of life’s essentials, such as food, household bills and travel costs, with 90% of low-income households receiving Universal Credit going without.
We can’t always deal with what life throws at us on our own, so we need to have a system that supports us all to afford the essentials while we recover from setbacks.
The UK government must make sure the basic rate of Universal Credit at least covers life’s essentials and that support can never be pulled below that level.
It’s time for the UK government to guarantee our essentials.
We’re proud to support this campaign at Norwood and Brixton Foodbank, as we see first-hand how low levels of social security affect people in our community.