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<p>No one has to wait five weeks for their first payment of Universal Credit. New
claim advances are available to support those in financial need until their first
payment is made. The Department has learnt from where we did not get things right
in the past in the legacy benefit system. Too often, the desire to pay quickly meant
claimants not receiving their correct entitlement as we did not have an appropriate
timeframe to review household circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can access up
to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period
of up to 12 months. We have announced that from October 2021, the repayment period
for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months. Proposed repayments of
the advance are explained, and all claimants are advised to request a level of advance
which is manageable both now and when considering the repayments required.</p><p>
</p><p>The best way to help people improve their lives is through employment. Households
where all adults are in work are around 6 times less likely to be in relative poverty
than adults in a household where nobody works. This improves further if all the adults
are working full time, reducing a child’s risk of being in poverty from 66% for (two-parent)
families with only part-time work to 7%. Universal Credit allows households the freedom
from the ‘cliff edges’ which featured in the legacy benefits system, where money was
lost when working more than 16, 24 or 30 hours.</p><p> </p><p>There are many reasons
people use foodbanks and their growth cannot be linked to a single cause. We have
listened to feedback on how we can support our Universal Credit claimants and acted
quickly, making improvements such as removing waiting days and introducing housing
benefit run on. These changes are giving support to vulnerable people who need it
most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.</p>
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