Universal credit claimants are losing out on hundreds of pounds a year if their payday falls too close their assessment date, a charity has warned. Being paid early as a result of weekends or bank holidays makes it look like a worker has earned more because they receive two payments…

Developing countries should fight discrimination against disabled people as a way of combating extreme poverty, the International Development Secretary has said. It is impossible to end the worst human suffering when some of those worst affected are "left out of the deal", Penny Mordaunt said ahead of a major summit…

A "significant" number of people are struggling to navigate the Government's flagship Universal Credit benefits system, according to a new study. Research by Citizens Advice found that more than a third of those helped by the charity found it difficult to provide evidence on issues such as health, housing and…

More than half of homeless families in temporary accommodation are in work, figures show. Some 55% of families are holding down a job despite having nowhere stable to live, research by Shelter's social housing commission has found. It estimated that there are currently around 33,000 "working homeless", which has risen…

Lone parents and their children are going to the UK's highest court in a battle against the Government's controversial benefit cap. Supreme Court justices will hear several challenges over the lawfulness of the measure in cases brought against the Work and Pensions Secretary. Part of the proceedings in London, which…

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford urged the Conservatives to "press the reset button" on austerity and learn from the Scottish Government on economic policy. Mr Blackford contrasted the policies implemented by the two governments and press Downing Street to move closer to the position north of the border, at a…

Tenants receiving Universal Credit are collectively in £24 million worth of rent arrears, housing associations have warned. The findings were compiled from surveys of 118 housing associations across Britain. They were released by the National Housing Federation, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Community Housing Cymru and the Northern Irish…

Esther McVey has been forced to issue an embarrassing apology to MPs after a public row with Whitehall's spending watchdog. The Work and Pensions Secretary said she had "inadvertently misled" the Commons by claiming that the National Audit Office (NAO) had called for the roll-out of the Universal Credit benefit…

The rising cost of transport, childcare and energy has hit people who are struggling to get by, leaving low-income families needing a third more money to make ends meet, according to a new study. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said families on low incomes were facing bigger barriers to meet…

Mandatory job seeking requirements for lone parents claiming benefits negatively affects mental health, researchers have found. Under the lone parent obligations rule, single parents must seek work as a condition of receiving certain welfare benefits once their youngest child reaches a certain age. Since 2008, when entitlement to income support…

More than 70,000 families lost benefits worth up to £2,780 a year in the first 12 months of operation of the new two-child cap, according to official figures. Campaigners called for a review of the policy, warning that it would pull 200,000 children into poverty, the majority of them in…

More than 2.5 million households in England are struggling to pay their energy bills, figures from the Government show. Some 11.1% of English households - 2.55 million - faced heating bills that pushed them below the poverty line in in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available.…