The Pregnancy and Baby Payment provides £600 for a first child and £300 for any siblings thereafter, whilst the Early Learning Payment is £250 for a child aged between two and three-and-a-half.
Cutting benefits for the least well-off doesn’t help people move into work – evidence shows it just makes them poorer, says Helen Barnard, programme manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
New data shows benefit claimants with mental health problems are more likely to have their benefits sanctioned than those suffering from other conditions.
Social justice activists and trade unionists are preparing nationwide protests against the cruel use of benefit sanctions. They will take place on 19 March 2015.