Research and Campaigns - Minimum Income Floor

5 NOVEMBER 2020 16:30

At the start of the pandemic, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made changes to Universal Credit to help increase support for self-employed people. They temporarily paused what's called the minimum income floor, meaning that a self-employed person's income is based upon their actual earnings rather than how much they're expected to earn.

The suspension of the minimum income floor comes to an end next week, but we've been campaigning for it to be extended in light of the ongoing economic challenges the country is facing. I'm pleased to say that the DWP have announced that this suspension will continue until the end of April. This will provide much-needed support to help shore up the incomes of self-employed people who may face difficulties trading over the coming months.

We'll be continuing to monitor the experiences of self-employed people on Universal Credit to see whether further changes are needed after April to support this group.