Menu

Increase in universal credit if you are working

11/11/2021

News

The calculation used to work out how much universal credit you get is changing. This change will only affect you if you are working but could mean you will receive more universal credit.

How universal credit is calculated

The amount of universal credit you get is based on your family circumstances and how much you earn. A maximum amount of universal credit is calculated based on the number of people in your family. You will get this if you are not working. If you are working this maximum amount is then reduced by your earnings.

You can earn over a certain amount before the reduction. This is called the work allowance. There are 2 work allowances – one if you are getting universal credit to pay rent and the other if you don’t. A percentage of your earnings, over the work allowance, then reduces the amount of universal credit you get. This percentage reduction is called the taper rate.

What are the changes and how will they affect me?

From December the universal credit work allowances and the taper rate will change.

If you get money to pay rent in your universal credit award your work allowances will increase from £293 to £335. If you do not get money in universal credit to pay rent your work allowance will increase from £515 to £557. This means you can keep more of your earnings before they reduce universal credit.

The taper rate will decrease from 63% to 55% meaning a smaller reduction will be made so you will get more universal credit.

 

Example:

1

Jo is a single parent

Jo is 30 and has 2 children aged 6 and 8. Jo works 20 hours a week and earns £183.60 per week.

2

UC calculation for Jo if she pays rent

If Jo pays rent of £819 per month she will get £1,346.79 universal credit per month. After the changes to the universal credit calculation she will get £1,410.09. This is £63.30 more per month.

3

UC calculation for Jo if she has no rent to pay

If Jo has no rent to pay she will get £667.65 universal credit per month. After the change to the universal credit calculation she will get £713.19. This is £45.54 more per month.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

View Privacy policy

Covering your tracks

You may not want other people to know that you’ve been searching for information or help from OPFS.

When browsing the internet whether on a mobile phone, tablet or computer, you leave a ‘history’ trail of pages and sites you’ve visited.

It’s impossible to completely avoid being tracked online but if you’re worried about someone knowing which sites you’ve been looking at, there are some things you can do to help cover your tracks.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, try keeping another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch to another window or tab.

Deleting browsing history

You can delete the history of websites you’ve visited, but it’s important to know that if you delete your browsing history, someone else using the same device may notice.

If you share a tablet, mobile phone, laptop or computer with someone, they might notice that passwords or website addresses have disappeared from their history.

Find out how to remove your browsing history and other data from some of the most commonly used browsers:

Browsing in Private mode (incognito)

When browsing ‘incognito’, the internet browser won’t store cookies or record your browsing history on the computer, mobile or tablet.

This option is available on popular web browsers i.e. -

Toolbars

If you use a search toolbar in your web browser, remember that your searched items can be saved as part of your history. Find out how to delete your searched items from the following search engines: