Next to headline- grabbing cuts like the ‘bedroom tax’ and the ‘benefit cap’, council tax benefit cuts have gone largely unnoticed. But the 2.3 million people paying on average £167 per year more as a result of the cuts have noticed. Big time – as new research published this week by Child Poverty Action Group and Z2K finds.
Just over £3 per week might not seem like a lot to most people, but for households on the very lowest incomes, it’s enough to bust already-stretched budgets. Families are going to great lengths to make sure they keep up to date with their council tax payments. Stringent collection procedures mean that council tax is viewed as a priority debt and families would prefer to borrow money than fall behind on payments.
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