Low-income Families to Get £301 Cost of Living Payments in Spring

More than eight million low-income families across the UK are set to receive £301 in the coming weeks to help them cover their essential outgoings and stay afloat financially.

Those payments are set to be issued directly to individual bank accounts via the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which has been tasked with supporting some of the most financially vulnerable households around the country in the context of the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The direct payments are now scheduled to go out during the spring months and are intended to be the first of several such payments made over the course of the financial year 2023/24.

Around 6.5 million people who are in receipt of disability benefit are also in line to receive direct payments worth £150 over the course of the coming summer.

Recent months have seen huge numbers of individuals and families find themselves financially stretched as never before with the cost of living having increased so sharply since early 2022.

For many people, that has meant being pushed into serious debt problems and into arrears with landlords, energy suppliers and local authorities.

The government’s payments are intended to provide some measure of financial relief for people on low incomes whose finances are potentially in a very precarious position.

“These direct payments will help people right across the UK over this year and the start of the next, as we continue to provide consistent, targeted and substantial support for the most vulnerable,” said Mel Stride, work and pensions secretary with the UK government.

“Our wider support package, including the Energy Price Guarantee, will ensure every household is being helped through this challenging period of high inflation, caused by Putin’s illegal war and the aftershocks of the pandemic,” he added.

In Scotland, it was reported recently by the consumer watchdog Which? that as many as one in five parents are now regularly skipping meals in order to make sure their children can be fed.

The charity StepChange also revealed last month that a growing number of Scots are being pushed into problem debt situations by the cost of living crisis.

If you live in Scotland and you are worried about your personal debt situation then Scotland Debt Solutions can help. Contact us directly to arrange a FREE and confidential consultation.