THE TORIES’ benefit cap is disproportionately penalising single-parent families, statistics published today reveal.

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that 60,000 households had their housing benefit capped as of February, 72 per cent of which are single-parent families.

Of those 44,000 single-parent families subject to the cap, 77 per cent have at least one child under the age of five while 33 per cent have a child under the age of two.