Benefits

When Iain Duncan Smith came to Easterhouse in Glasgow more than a decade ago, he pledged to change the system to help some of Britain’s poorest. But the change has not been what residents hoped for.

Working parents will get 20 per cent of their annual childcare costs paid by the government – up to £1,200 per child – under a new scheme announced today.

Five disabled people are challenging a plan to change the way their care is funded by the government, arguing it undermines the state’s duty to promote independent living for the disabled.

Welfare Secretary Ian Duncan Smith announces changes to controversial cuts in housing benefit, dubbed the “bedroom tax” by opponents. Ciaran Jenkins reports.

Restrictions on health and welfare benefits for immigrants from European Union states would have to apply equally to UK citizens under EU law, says Downing Street.

The government’s disability testing system is criticised for making wrong decisions, causing “misery and hardship” to benefits claimants at a “considerable cost” to the taxpayer.

MP Mark Field says the reforms to housing benefit which will cut the income of social housing tenants deemed to have spare rooms is necessary to ease overcrowding for other families.

Millions of people on low incomes will be hit by increases in their council tax bills from April. How many will be affected and who will pay most?

From April, an under-occupation penalty will be served on housing benefit claimants with a spare room or rooms. Dubbed the “bedroom tax”, Ciaran Jenkins explains how it works.

Conservative MP Mark Field tells Channel 4 News he had not heard of the term “bedroom tax” before last week but that he voted for the policy behind the nickname because it will ease overcrowding.

As another committee considers how to tackle the problem of the UK’s ageing society, Channel 4 News instead looks on the bright side: at the potential benefits of having an older population.

MPs will vote today on a bill that is designed to cut the link between benefit increases and inflation, with Labour opposing the government.

A handful of Liberal Democrats threatened to vote no – but the government has seen off a challenge to its plans for a real terms cut in benefit payments.

David Cameron defends the government’s planned changes to benefits insisting welfare reforms are fundamentally fair – and sets his sights on being prime minister until 2020.

As the debate on child benefits and welfare heats up, Channel 4 News looks at the findings of a Yougov poll revealing the difference between public perceptions of benefit claimants – and the reality.