What is Benefit cap?
The '''benefit cap''' in the United Kingdom limits the amount in [[Social security in the United Kingdom|state benefits]] that an individual household can claim per year. The benefit cap started in 2013 at £26,000 per year (£500 per week) which was the average family income in the UK. For single people with no children it was set at £18,200 per year (£350 per week).<ref>{{Cite news|date=2014-02-06|title='Thousands' hit by government benefit cap now in work|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-26065080|access-date=2023-12-12}}</ref> From Autumn 2016 it was reduced to £20,000, except in London where it was reduced to £23,000. In 2023 for a couple or a household with children it was £25,323 in London and £22,020 outside of London. For a single person, the annual thresholds are £16,967 in London and £14,753 outside of London.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-12-09|title=A temporary thaw • Resolution Foundation|url=https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/a-temporary-thaw/|access-date=2023-12-12|language=en-US}}</ref> The policy was challenged in court in 2015 by two lone mothers who said that the benefit cap was discriminatory and unfair. The [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|Supreme Court]] said it was lawful but three of the five judges concluded that the benefit cap breached the [[United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Butler|first=Patrick|date=2015-03-18|title=UK benefits cap is lawful but breaches UN children’s rights obligations|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/18/uk-benefit-cap-is-lawful-supreme-court-rules|access-date=2023-12-12|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2015 there was also a successful legal challenge on the grounds that it unlawfully [[Discrimination|discriminated]] against [[Disability|disabled]] people and their [[Caregiver|carer]]<nowiki/>s. The policy was changed so that it did not apply to people who get [[Carer's Allowance]]. <ref>{{Cite web|title=Carers Allowance recipients