The state pension and various benefits are set for an uplift from Monday, with recipients of the state pension to see an 8.5 percent increase, translating to an additional £900 annually for full rate claimants.
Universal credit, along with other benefits such as personal independence payment, disability living allowance, and employment and support allowance, will also see a 6.7 percent hike.
The Government has touted the state pension increase as part of its commitment to supporting British pensioners.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride commented: “Thanks to the triple lock and our efforts to drive down inflation, we are putting money back in the pockets of pensioners. This is only possible because we have stuck to our plan and our economy has turned a corner.”
Stride further emphasised the significance of the increase: “This will make a meaningful difference to all those who rely on the state pension and ensure we continue to provide a safety net for those who need it most while making work pay wherever possible.”
In addition to the upcoming increases, the Department for Work and Pensions highlighted last year’s 10.1 percent state pension rise as the largest cash increase ever, alongside nearly £5 billion in winter support.
Last year’s full state pension rate was £10,600, which is set to climb to £11,500 annually.
Ministers also pointed to the 2p cut to national insurance announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt at the Budget among measures to help households struggling with living costs.
The Liberal Democrats claimed the extra pension support would be largely wiped out, as more pensioners are dragged into paying income tax as a result of threshold freezes.
“Jeremy Hunt has taken a bolt cutter to the triple lock,” said Work and Pensions spokeswoman Wendy Chamberlain. She added: “This Conservative Government is picking pensioners’ pockets to try and fill the black hole caused by their disastrous economic policy.
“These are people who have played by the rules their whole lives, paid their taxes and contributed so much to our society. They expect that in their older years the government would look after them, not place even more financial hardship upon them during a cost-of-living crisis.”
Labour suggested it is now the party for pensioners, who it claimed had paid a heavy price for 14 years of devastating Tory economic failure.
Alison McGovern, a shadow work and pensions minister, added: “The Tories crashed the economy and unleashed a cost-of-living crisis, pushing pensioners into poverty, or having to rely on their savings just to get by.
“Now we have a fresh threat to family finances and pensioners from the Tories’ £46 billion unfunded cut to national insurance which risks re-running the disastrous Liz Truss experiment.”