00:00According to the latest government analysis, it seems like millions of families will be affected.
00:06It is not only about the one million family in England and Wales anymore.
00:11So according to the Department for Work and Pensions,
00:153.2 million families probably would lose financially by the financial year of 2029-2030.
00:23On average, each family could lose about US$2,200 a year.
00:29Some of the families actually are gaining because of the change.
00:323.8 families are expected to be actually better off.
00:36And we're looking at each family raking in an extra of US$540 every year.
00:43And Rita Reeves announced the cut to welfare spending last week.
00:48And she found the benefits for new claimants were not working
00:51because of illnesses or disabilities would be frozen by 2030.
00:56And also a reform on PIP, that is Personal Independence Payment,
01:00that is a scheme designed by the government to help those who are not working because of long-term sickness.
01:06And then it would be the eligibility criteria would be tighter starting 2026 to save public spending.
01:14But today, Rachel Reeves, the UK's finance minister, made some adjustments.
01:19She formed the standards allowance for those who are on universal credit.
01:23And that will actually be increased in the financial year of 2029-2030.
01:28But in the meantime, there will be less support for new claimants with health issues starting April 2026.
01:35Which means if you have health issues and you apply for that after April 2026,
01:40then your extra allowance will be cut in half.
01:44And according to the Office for National Statistics in the UK,
01:47there are about 3 million people who are not working because of long-term sickness.
01:52And today, Rachel Reeves said the government hopes that more people can go back to the workforce where they can.
01:58Now let's take a listen.
02:00More than a thousand people every day are qualifying for personal independence payments.
02:05One in eight young people are not in employment, education or training.
02:10If we do nothing, we are writing off an entire generation.
02:15That cannot be right and we will not stand for it.
02:19It is a waste of their potential and it is a waste of their futures and we will change it.
02:26And of course Sally, the opposition and the charities have said that you know what,
02:30it could push more people into hardship.
02:33In the meantime, it has been confirmed the government will increase spending in defence by about 2.8 billion US dollars.
02:42And this is a continuation of the government's announcement earlier in the month
02:46that it would increase the public spending to about 2.5% by 2027.
02:52And we know Sally, it is not only the UK, it is all across Europe,
02:55given that the United States is urging many countries to increase their spending.
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