"uri","answering body","answer > is ministerial correction","answer > date of answer","answer > answer text","answer > answering member constituency","answer > answering member printed","answer > question first answered","answer > uri","answer > answering member > label","answering dept id","answering dept short name","answering dept sort name","date","hansard heading","house id","legislature > pref label","question text","registered interest","tabling member > label","tabling member constituency","tabling member printed","uin" "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1000260","Department for Work and Pensions","false","2018-11-12","

The taper is the rate at which Universal Credit is reduced to take account of earnings. It is specifically for in work claimants and linked to earnings to incentivise work, and those in work to earn more. Universal Credit has a single taper of 63 per cent so payments reduce in a transparent and predictable way as earnings increase. Universal Credit is a means tested benefit, and income other than earnings, such as pensions, is taken fully into account in the assessment of Universal Credit. This is consistent with how legacy means tested benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support treat pension income. Therefore it would not be consistent to extend the earnings taper to pensions income and doing so would also undermine the incentives to work for people of working age.

","Reading West","Alok Sharma","2018-11-12T18:05:06.27Z","http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1000260/answer","Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma","29","Work and Pensions","Work and Pensions","2018-11-02","Universal Credit","1","House of Commons","To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the taper that is applied to wages is not applied to pensions in relation to universal credit.","true","Biography information for Dan Jarvis","Barnsley Central","Dan Jarvis","187333"