Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Nearly half a million self-employed people claiming universal credit face having their payments cut next month.
The government is on course to reinstate rules aligning self-employed universal credit payments with those of full-time workers on the minimum wage.
This is despite the government promising to suspend the cap – or “minimum income floor” (MIF) – for self-employed universal credit claimants “for the duration” of the Covid pandemic.
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Government officials told the Times that the MIF is set to be reinstated on November 13. However, no decision has been taken yet.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies has estimated that the MIF affects about 450,000 households who would lose an average of £3,200 a year by treating them the same as full-time employees on the minimum wage.
Stephen Timms, Labour chairman of the Commons welfare committee, told the newspaper: “The suspension of the minimum income floor should be extended, as the government said it would be, for the duration of the pandemic. Its re-imposition just when the effects of coronavirus are getting worse will be a heavy blow to many self-employed people, currently struggling to keep