'I just can't see how we're going to survive': Fears over £20 Universal Credit uptick ending
Video report by ITV Granada Reports political correspondent Lise McNally.
A North West charity has described the £20 a week increase to universal credit, which comes to an end in less than a month, as "a lifeboat on a sinking ship".
The government introduced the top-up at the start of the first lockdown, insisting it was a temporary measure to help those hit hardest by the pandemic.
But anti-poverty charities say removing it now would see the biggest single cut to welfare support in more than 70 years.
The latest data suggests that nearly half of families in the North West will be affected by the cut - more than 713,000 in total.
'I honestly don't know what we're going to do'
Charlie Hall from Liverpool has been job hunting for a year, and relies on Universal Credit.
From next month, she'll be losing around a quarter of her budget.
She says cost of living is still rising. She plans all her meals, doesn't turn the heating on, and tries to keep the lights off as much as possible.
Speaking to Granada Reports, she said: "Even if we cut back completely - don't have any heating, try to keep the lights off - it's still really, really going to be a struggle.
"I just can't see how we're actually going to survive, I don't see how we're going to function."
She thinks loan sharks and foodbanks may be their only option. Charlie said: "You shouldn't have to rely on other people to give you your food. I'm 26. It makes me really sad for my past self."
'People are going to go hungry'
The Trussell Trust, a charity which supports a network of over 1,200 food bank centres, has raised concerns that ending the £20 uplift will trap thousands of families in a vicious cycle of poverty.
New research conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Trussell Trust found:
Charlie is worried that the impact of the cut will affect her job prospects.
"I'm looking for a job every single day - but trying to job hunt for 35 hours a week, when you haven't eaten, when you haven't slept properly because you're worried about money all the time, when you're feeling beaten down - who'd want to employ that person?"
'I find families living without food or furniture'
Anti-poverty charities have called on the government to reverse their decision to end the £20 uplift.
Sam Wolstencroft is a dept coach in Bolton, on behalf of the Christians Against Poverty charity. She says she's "really anxious" about the uplift being taken away.
"When you're struggling with finances it impacts relationships, marriages, children's wellbeing, mental health - it's endless"
"If people have more money and better mental health they contribute more to their community, they boost the economy - the bigger picture for the government must be that somehow!"
Iain Porter works for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a charity which conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK.
He said: "We know that families have used that lifeline to pay for essential like food, like rent, like school equipment for their children.
"Things haven't changed now. When families incomes are going to be cut by £20 - their bills haven't gone down by £20, those difficult challenges they face haven't changed.
"This amount being taken away overnight is for some people is going to be the difference between having enough to feed their children, and having to go down to the food bank."
'It's right to focus on our Plan for Jobs'
A Government spokesperson told ITV News that the uplift was always supposed to be a temporary measure, "designed to help claimants through the economic shock and financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic".
They added:
“Universal Credit will continue to provide vital support for those both in and out of work and it’s right that the Government should focus on our Plan for Jobs, supporting people back into work and supporting those already employed to progress and earn more.”
More on Granada Debates at 10:50pm on ITV on Thursday 9 September.