More than a third of people affected by the Conservative government’s freeze on benefits have less than £100 a month to live on after they have paid rent and bills for food, council tax and gas and electricity, according to the Citizens Advice service.

Universal credit claimants were especially badly affected, with more than half reporting that they had gone without essentials such as food and toiletries. Nearly the same proportion said they had lost sleep over their dire finances, the charity reported.

Disabled people and those with children were most likely to have gone without essentials, with nearly half of both groups reporting that this had happened to them at least once in the past 12 months.

Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “The benefits system is designed to help people with their finances in times of need, but too often our frontline staff and volunteers see a different story.

“We’ve found people are losing sleep and unable to afford essential things like food and housing while receiving universal credit. It is totally unacceptable that our benefits system is not providing the financial safety net that people need.”

Rates for benefits such as universal credit, tax credits and local housing allowance have been frozen since April 2016. This saved the Treasury £4.4bn last year alone but has inflicted a 6% real terms cut to benefits once inflation is taken into account.

A recent MPs’ report warned that the “spectre of destitution” hung over the UK’s poorest neighbourhoods as a result of benefits failing to keep pace with living costs, leaving poorer families at risk of being unable to meet basic food and housing needs

The average low-income couple with children would be £200 a year worse off this year as a result of the benefit freeze and poorer single parents £250 a year worse off, the Resolution Foundation has estimated.

The freeze also contributed to a dramatic rise in child poverty in families with three or more children, up nine percentage points since 2013-14, and helped trap 4 million people overall in deep poverty, according to a recent report by the Social Metrics Commission.

Citizens Advice called on the government to end the freeze on benefit rates and reduce the five-week wait for a first universal credit payment. Although the freeze is scheduled to end next April, this has yet to be confirmed.

The charity said since the level of most benefits such as universal credit and tax credits was frozen in 2016, it was having “serious consequences”, with more than a quarter of people who claim benefits saying financial worries had made them feel lonely or isolated or affected their mental health.

A government spokesperson said: “Tackling poverty will always be a priority for this government. There are no current plans to extend or maintain the benefit freeze after March 2020. Income inequality and absolute poverty are lower than in 2010, but we know some families need more support, which is why we continue to spend £95bn a year on working-age benefits.



“Universal credit is supporting more than two million people and it’s working for the vast majority. Advance payments provide money urgently for people if they need it and there are measures in place to ensure repayments are affordable.”