"Powering Up" or Reducing Inequalities? Assessing the Impact of Benefit Cuts and Withdrawal of Employment Support (Furlough) on Stoke-on-Trent

Earlier this year we published a report assessing the impact of the Covid crisis on poverty and destitution in Stoke-on-Trent. Our main findings are that before the COVID-19 crisis, Stoke-on-Trent was the 14th most deprived district in England (out of 317 districts) and possessed one of the highest rates of people on low pay and with low skills. The COVID-19 crisis has caused rising unemployment and alarmingly high numbers (over 50,000 - a third of the working age population) claiming Universal Credit and legacy benefits. As benefits are set at an extremely low level, the key issue is that large sections of the population are reliant upon insufficient incomes to maintain an even basic standard of living. A clear indication of this is the dramatic increase in numbers receiving food aid by food banks in the Stoke-on-Trent area. The purpose of this report is essentially to update the analysis from the earlier report and assess the actual and potential impact of the withdrawal of Universal Credit and furlough support on Stoke-on-Trent. The aim is to consider other factors which interact with these policies such as the key challenges facing the Stoke-on-Trent economy with respect to ‘levelling or powering up,’ the overall level of income support for people not in work or in low paid jobs (i.e. the social safety net).