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<p>No such assessment has been undertaken.</p><p> </p><p>UC recipients in work now
benefit from a reduction in the UC taper rate from 63% to 55%, and for those eligible
customers an increase in the work allowance by £500 per year meaning that working
households will be able to keep more of what they earn and strengthening incentives
to move into and progress in work.</p><p> </p><p>The National Living Wage has risen
from £8.91 to £9.50 an hour from 1 April. That means a pay rise for millions of the
country’s lowest paid workers – worth an increase of over £1,000 to the annual earnings
of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Department is
aware that for some UC claimants’ childcare costs presents challenges to entering
employment. To support parents to become financially resilient by moving into work
and progressing in work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered
childcare costs each month regardless of the number of hours they work, compared to
70% in Tax Credits. This is up to the maximum amount of £646.35 per month for one
child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. For families with two children,
this could be worth over £13,000 a year.</p><p> </p><p>This support is available to
all lone parents and couples, regardless of the number of hours they work. For couples,
both parents need to be in paid work to be eligible unless one of the allowable exceptions
is met.</p><p> </p><p>The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare
offer in England and there are similar funded early learning offers in devolved nations.
The Free Childcare offer provides 15 hours a week of free childcare in England for
all 3- and 4-year old’s and disadvantaged 2 year old’s, doubling for working parents
of 3 and 4 year old’s to 30 hours a week.</p><p> </p><p>The UC childcare element can
be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked
and childcare required. This offer means that for some claimants’ childcare costs
should not present any barriers to entering work.</p><p> </p><p>UC claimants who need
help with upfront childcare costs to enter employment or significantly increase their
working hours can apply for help from the Flexible Support Fund (FSF). This is a non-repayable
payment that will pay their initial childcare costs directly to the provider up to
the first salary received.</p><p> </p><p>In order to achieve our long-term goals of
driving up productivity and levelling up, we are supporting people in work to ensure
they have the right skills and opportunities to progress out of low pay. Through providing
right infrastructure we will support an ambitious and productive workforce suited
to meet the UK’s future demand.</p><p> </p><p>Through a staged rollout from April
2022 onwards, 2.1m low paid Universal Credit claimants will be eligible for support
to progress into higher paid work. This will be provided by work coaches and focus
on career progression advice, such as considering skills gaps, identifying training
opportunities, or looking for opportunities for the claimant to progress in their
current role or in a new role. Jobcentres will be supported in this new role by a
network of 37 Progression Champions across Great Britain who will spearhead the scheme.
They will work with partners to address local barriers that limit progression, such
as transport and childcare.</p>
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