New benefit cuts that could cost the hardest-hit single parents more than £6,000 by 2019 are set to come into force next week, a hangover from the chancellorship of George Osborne, who was sacked by Theresa May last July after the EU referendum.

The changes coming into force on 5 April include limiting the child element of support to the first two children and removing the family element of support for new claimants of tax credit and universal credit, meaning families will start to be affected from 2019 onwards.

Another controversial change is a cut to the employment and support allowance – a disability benefit – for new claimants deemed capable of some work-related activity. From that date, they will only be eligible for the £73.10 a week paid to recipients of jobseeker’s allowance.



The shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, said the changes, which include limits on child benefit and cuts to universal credit, would put a “terrible toll upon families across the UK”.

A single mother with three children, who makes a universal credit claim after the rules come into effect, would stand to lose £6,195 by 2019 compared with the current rules, according to House of Commons library figures. The cut is a consequence of the new two-child cap in benefit support along with the removal of the “first-child premium” for new claims and cuts to the work allowance.

Single parents who are already claiming universal credit stand to lose £5,669 by 2019 if they have a third child after the new rules come into force.

Abrahams said: “[The cuts will] hit working families, young people, disabled people and children coping with the loss of a parent, ensuring it is even harder for them to make ends meet.

“Labour will fight these measures every step of the way, as part of our promise to transform the social security system so that, like the NHS, it is there for us all in our time of need.”

New government regulations that deny housing benefit to thousands of 18- to 21-year-olds will also come into force. The Centrepoint charity said the move would put about 9,000 young people at risk of homelessness. Some exemptions apply, however, to people who may not be able to return home to live with their parents; certain claimants who have been in work for six months before making a claim; and young people who are parents.

Writing in the Guardian, the shadow housing minister, John Healey, said: “The removal of support for young people’s housing costs is a policy that is guaranteed to drive homelessness levels still higher. The consequences of this policy could not be clearer.”

Changes to the national minimum wage will come into force in April, meaning 1.7 million workers aged 25 and over will see their hourly wage rise to £7.50, the equivalent of about £600 a year for full-time workers.

The business minister Margot James said the government would be chasing businesses that did not comply and urged workers to report rogue employers.

“Every worker in the UK is entitled to at least the national minimum wage or ‘national living wage’ and we are determined that they get it,” she said. “My clear message to everyone is to check your pay, talk to your boss and report underpayment to Acas.”