PETITIONClosedPetition · petition.parliament.uk
Remove Universal Credit ‘Take-home Pay’ deductions for lone parent households
As a lone parent household I am continually fighting to keep myself and my children out of poverty, but no matter how much I work, my earnings are capped by universal credit deductions. I feel that removing the deductions would allow me to work my family out of poverty.
Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk
Signatures
134
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 134/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 134/100,000
Background
Lone parent households make up around 16% of all UK households. Single parent employment in the UK has fallen since 2019. In 2019-20, after housing costs, 45% of single parents were in relative poverty, compared to 22% of parents in a couple and 49% of children in single parent households were in relative poverty.
The impact on child health and wellbeing of poverty is well documented. We think that removing the current universal credit take-home pay deductions for lone parent households could give them the opportunity to work themselves out of poverty.