Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Raising the value of benefits would have been preferable to sending out a string of lump sum cost of living payments to households, according to a leading UK economics thinktank which has dubbed the sporadic cash boosts an “ineffective sticking plaster”.

Cost of living payments are ‘ineffective sticking plaster’, warns IFS

Demand on foodbanks has continued to grow in recent months

RACHEL McGRATH COLUMN: Food aid is the priority in 'levelling up'

Many people today are struggling financially and emotionally

RACHEL MCGRATH COLUMN: Stark reading in state-of-nation report

An estimated 38,238 families in Northamptonshire were living in fuel poverty in 2019. Photo: Getty Images

Thousands of Northamptonshire families in fuel poverty set for tough winter with...

The £20 coronavirus uplift to universal credit is due to end on October 6. Photo: Getty Images

Councillor wants West Northamptonshire Council to pressure government over end o...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

What are the biggest issues for you in Northampton?

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found a 54 per cent rise in destitution in the UK between 2017 and 2019. Photo: Shutterstock

Revealed: Hundreds of Northamptonshire households could not afford basics like f...

Picture: Press Association

Northampton unemployment benefit claims still well above pre-pandemic levels

The increase in payments was only designed to last a year. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Universal Credit payments could be decreased in April 2021 - here's why

Picture: Press Association

Northampton unemployment benefit claims still far higher than before coronavirus

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Northampton home to thousands of children in low-income families

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Northampton home to thousands of children in low-income families

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Northampton sees one of sharpest spikes in unemployment benefit claims in UK

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Hundreds more people claiming Universal Credit in Northampton, new figures revea...