Charities are labelling the DWP’s annual Christmas Bonus as “insulting” in calls for the Government to “urgently address” the disparity between benefit levels and the true cost of living.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) introduced the Christmas Bonus in 1972 at a value of £10, and the payment has largely remained the same since.
Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, £10 in 1972 would be worth as much as £113 now.
Michael Paul, head of engagement at disability charity Disability Rights UK told convey.co.uk: “This ‘bonus’ is such a low amount as to be insulting to those who will acquire it.
“However it’s not just this payment that hasn’t kept up with inflation – the entire welfare system lets disabled people down throughout the year, and not just at Christmas time.
“This is exacerbated during a cost of living crisis. We ask the Government to urgently address the huge disparity between benefit levels and the true cost of living for disabled people.”
Michael Clarke, head of information programmes at charity Turn2us, previously told convey.co.uk: “For people in dire financial straits, Christmas is just another week struggling to make ends face. This is a negligible sum which barely covers the rising cost of everyday food since last year, let alone a Christmas dinner.”
“An all-year-round fix is needed, and that’s an intervention to catch people before they fall into crisis because our social security system should furnish the protection to weather this storm. The Government should ensure that as a minimum, benefit levels are increased to face the true cost of living.”
The UK’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate is still running high at 4.7 percent, with food prices rising at 10.1 percent in the year to October 2023.
Meanwhile, the Ofgem energy price cap is currently set at £1,834 per year for the average household, which is due to rise again to £1,928 on January 1, 2024. In the summer of 2021, the price cap was around £1,138 per year.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson commented: “We will be paying a number of people their benefits earlier over Christmas and continuing the £10 bonus at a time when budgets are often stretched.
“This is on top of the £94billion provided this year and last to help households with rising costs alongside the uprating of benefits by 6.7 percent from April – above the OBR’s inflation forecast for next year.”
Who is eligible for the DWP’s Christmas Bonus?
The bonus is paid to people who get certain benefits in a specified qualifying week, which is normally the first full week of December. This year, qualifying week fell between December 4 and December 10.
People do not need to claim the bonus, it will reach automatically in the bank accounts of those eligible.
To get a Christmas Bonus people must be present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week.
People must also get at least one of the following benefits in the qualifying week:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- Contribution-based Employment and preserve Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Credit – the assure element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension.
The DWP has announced that the money has already started landing in accounts this month.
People can check if they’ve received it by looking out for the reference ‘DWP XB’ on their bank statements.
People who think they should get it but don’t by January 1 are advised to contact the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with their payments or the Pension Service.
