THE Tories’ cost-of-living support package will only last struggling families just over a month, with many using the first payment to pay back debts, Turn2Us has warned.

Drawing from a survey of 2,730 of its service users, the charity, which supports people living in financial hardship, said half of them reported being left with nothing to live on each week after paying rent, council tax and utility bills. 

Many reported that they had been pushed into debt in order to pay for food after having nothing left to cover vital essentials. 

More than eight million households on benefits are set to receive the first instalment of the government’s £650 cost-of-living payment on Thursday. 

But Turn2Us has warned the majority could see the first payment of £326 run out in less than five weeks, with a quarter of survey respondents saying they are planning to use the money to help repay debts and 52 per cent to pay back utility bill arrears. 

Turn2Us’s Michael Clarke said: “Every day we see more people struggling to afford life’s absolute basics as the cost of living continues to push millions of people onto the edge of a financial crisis. 

“Many people using our services come to us when they are at their most desperate, and we fear the worst is yet to come over the coming months.”

It comes as new figures show that one in four children are now living in poverty.

Research by the End Child Poverty coalition, published today, shows that 3.6 million children were living in poverty in 2020-21, a drop of 200,000 compared with the previous year — but the coalition warns that levels will soar upwards again if more government support isn’t offered to help families through the current crisis. 

Charities have attributed the decrease in 2020-21 to the £20 “uplift” in universal credit brought in to help people through the pandemic. But with that support now withdrawn, they warn that those children will have been pushed back into poverty. 

End Child Poverty coalition vice-chair Dan Paskins, who is also with Save the Children, said: “It’s an outrage that child poverty figures in this country remain so high, even if the statistics show a slight decrease in numbers overall. 

“The former chancellor’s recent economic package was welcome but has in reality just kept families treading water — all it has done is help with some of the increased costs but it has not prevented a real-terms cut in income.”

The charities are calling on the government to increase benefits in line with inflation, and stop universal credit deductions for advances and debts. 

A government spokesperson said: “The latest figures show there were 500,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009-10. 

“But we recognise people are struggling with rising prices which is why we are protecting the eight million most vulnerable families with at least £1,200 of direct payments, starting this week.”
 
“Through our £37 billion support package we are saving the typical employee over £330 a year through a tax cut this month, allowing people on universal credit to keep £1,000 more of what they earn, and in April we significantly increased the national living wage to £9.50, the largest ever rise.”