Single-parent families face losing more than £4,000 a year in benefit because of the UK government’s austerity drive, according to a study by the Scottish government.
Angela Constance, Scotland’s social security secretary, said those on low incomes had been “targeted” by welfare changes since 2015, with families with children hit hardest.
The paper estimates that UK government welfare policies would mean that an unemployed single parent with three children would be £4,080 worse off per year by 2020-21 — an 18 per cent reduction in income to £19,205.
Researchers claimed that even if the parent secured work, they would still be £940 a year worse off because of changes, which include the benefit cap, the two-child limit on tax credits — and the associated so-called