What Benefits are Available to Struggling Families? Turn2us is Aiming to Help

Struggling families are often not claiming welfare benefits they are entitled to.

Research from charity Turn2us, finds that 48 per cent of families with a low household income are not checking entitlement to help such as tax credits.

Whilst 40 per cent hadn’t claimed benefits because they thought they probably weren’t entitled to them, 22 per cent didn’t even know how to find out about them to begin with.

Complicated systems and application processes deterred 16 per cent who felt that the recent changes to benefits made them too difficult to even apply for.

Chief Executive of Turn2us, Simon Hopkins said: “Shockingly around £15bn in welfare support still goes unclaimed every year and as our findings show, people often feel that benefits simply aren’t for them.

“Through our campaign, we want to show that financial hardship can happen for many different reasons and could affect anyone at any time in their lives. Welfare benefits exist to provide a vital source of support for people in need, including those who are in-work, and as our research highlights, these can make a positive difference in paying for basic life essentials. We would urge anyone struggling to visit our website today to check what support could be available.”

Families are still choosing food or fuel, with 30 per cent having to cut back on foor and 26 per cent not using gas or electricity if it can be avoided.

The charity is launching its 2016 Benefits Awareness Campaign today and aims to help people struggling financially by informing them of what welfare options are available to them.

For more information, visit: Turn2us.org.uk/BenefitsAware