OPFS signs joint letter urging the UK Chancellor to rethink disability benefit cuts
OPFS is one of 40 women’s organisations across the UK to sign a joint letter to Rachel Reeves, urging her to rethink cuts to UK disability benefits due to fears it will remove vital support to victims of abuse.
26/03/2025
News
Funding cuts to social security and to public services will undermine efforts to tackle child poverty, close the gender pay gap, halve violence against women and girls, boost the employment rate and grow the economy.
- Letter to UK Chancellor, 40 UK women's organisations
On 18 March 2025, Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall announced a cut to UK disability benefits aimed at saving £5bn a year by 2030.
OPFS has signed a joint letter to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves with 39 other campaigners and researchers, expressing deep concerns over the planned cuts.
Key concerns include:
- Severe impact on disabled people: Past austerity measures have already disproportionately harmed Disabled individuals, especially women, with an 11% drop in their living standards by 2028.
- Cuts to essential benefits: Changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and the health element of Universal Credit (UC) could cost some claimants over £100 per week and remove £6.5bn in support by 2029-30.
- Increased burden on women: Women, who make up the majority of Disabled individuals and unpaid carers, will bear the brunt of these cuts, potentially forcing many out of employment.
- Risk to survivors of domestic abuse: Disabled women face higher rates of economic abuse, and losing benefits could remove a vital financial lifeline.
- The coalition urges the government to reconsider these cuts and instead explore fairer taxation options that could raise £60 billion from the wealthiest individuals and corporations. They also call for detailed equality impact assessments to evaluate the true effects of these policy changes.