Universal Credit

If you claim universal credit and other support payments you could sign-up to Vodafone's newly-launched social tariff, 'Vodafone Essentials Broadband', which costs £12 a month. It is the cheapest social tariff on the market with a speed of 38Mb but the price will near double after 12 months. 

Parents on Universal Credit with high childcare costs will soon be able to claim £100s more in support each month, as the Government is boosting the help available from Wednesday 28 June. In addition, some of those eligible will also be able to get one month's childcare paid for them upfront, instead of having to pay the full cost and getting it reimbursed later.

Eligible parents of children as young as nine months in England are to be offered up to 30 hours of government-funded childcare each week. Meanwhile, parents who get universal credit will see the maximum amount they can claim for childcare costs raised. Both announcements form a package of new measures designed to help parents, revealed by the Chancellor in the Budget.

The Prime Minister today (19 October) said she was "completely committed" to the triple lock, meaning millions of people claiming the state pension could receive a 10.1% increase in payments from April. However, given the ongoing cost of living crisis and economic uncertainty the Government has yet to officially confirm whether this will be the case, or whether benefits will rise by the same amount. 

Almost eight million people in the UK are currently struggling to pay their bills, according to the financial regulator. If you are facing financial difficulty, we explain how to check if you're eligible for support and how to try and cut costs and save on essential bills. 

More than 100,000 people claiming universal credit will be asked to "take active steps" to increase the hours they work or find better paid jobs – or face having their benefits reduced. Here's what it means for you.

All reception year schoolchildren in Wales will start receiving free meals from September this year, with pupils in year one and year two to get free meals by April 2023, the Welsh Government has announced. It's expected that all 200,000 primary school children in Wales will receive free school meals by 2024. 

More than 2.5 million people on legacy benefits will start to be moved over to universal credit from today in an automatic process that was previously halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government's own figures show that the move could leave 900,000 people worse off – though many others will see their circumstances improved. Here's all you need to know.

Millions will see benefit payments, such as universal credit and child benefit, rise from today under an uplift for the new financial year. If your family income is under £30,000 and you're not in receipt of any state support - it's worth spending 10 minutes to check if you're due benefits.

Up to seven million people in the UK are missing out on benefits they're entitled to, according to MSE founder Martin Lewis in the latest episode of his ITV show. He explained how to find out if you are, and also for those getting legacy benefits, such as income support or jobseeker's, how to check if you’d be better off on universal credit. Watch a brief extract below or see the full programme on the ITV Hub.