Database: Households on Universal Credit
Field: Monthly Award Amount (payment bands)
Description
Universal Credit consists of several elements, which combine to give the household's full monthly award. The vast majority have a standard allowance entitlement which can then be supplemented by a number of additional elements.
Award amount figures relate to the amount received, not the household entitlement. For example, if earnings in the household are above a specified amount the Universal Credit award is tapered to reflect this.
The example below demonstrates how a monthly award may be calculated:
A household consists of a single person (25 or over) with one child so their total entitlement is the standard allowance + child element.
They are working and have monthly earnings of a certain amount. Each household has a work allowance which is the amount they are allowed to earn before their Universal Credit payment is reduced by a set amount for every £1 earned above that threshold.
Their payment will be reduced due to their earnings as follows:
(Earnings − work allowance) x earnings taper = payment reduction amount
So their final Universal Credit payment will be:
Entitlement − payment reduction = Universal Credit Award.
More information is available on the elements of Universal Credit.
Classification
Applicable to: All Households
The Monthly Award Amount field can take the following values:
Total number of categories: 17
Quality Statement
The monthly award is the total amount of Universal Credit due, including amounts paid on behalf of the household (e.g. where a housing element is paid to a landlord), after any deductions (e.g. for recovery of advances). The monthly award amount includes one-off payments such as short term advances. These are included in the period in which are issued.