The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)<\/strong> has confirmed there are no current plans to increase the longstanding \u00a310 Christmas Bonus<\/strong> for claimants of Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and other benefits<\/strong>. The bonus, introduced in 1972, has remained at the same level despite inflation significantly reducing its value over the decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question of raising the Christmas Bonus was recently brought up in Parliament by Liberal Democrat MP Anna Sabine<\/strong>, who asked whether the government intended to review and increase the payment to reflect inflation<\/strong>. If adjusted for inflation, the bonus would now be worth around \u00a3115<\/strong>, representing an increase of \u00a3105<\/strong> from its original amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, pensions minister Torsten Bell<\/a><\/strong> stated :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“The Department has no current plans to make such an assessment. The Christmas Bonus was initially introduced as a one-off payment of \u00a310 in 1972 and has not been uprated or increased on a yearly basis like some benefits.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Who Is Eligible for the \u00a310 Christmas Bonus?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Despite calls for an increase, the Christmas Bonus remains a one-off tax-free payment<\/strong> of \u00a310<\/strong> for individuals receiving certain state benefits<\/strong>. To qualify, recipients must be claiming a qualifying benefit during the first week of December<\/strong>. Payments are typically issued during this same week and may appear on bank statements as \u2018DWP XB\u2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those receiving the following benefits and allowances<\/strong> may be eligible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- State Pension<\/strong> (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Pension Credit<\/strong> \u2013 the guarantee element<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Carer\u2019s Allowance<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Attendance Allowance<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Armed Forces Independence Payment<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- War Widow\u2019s Pension<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Industrial Death Benefit<\/strong> (for widows or widowers)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- War Disablement Pension<\/strong> (at State Pension age)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Adult Disability Payment<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Child Disability Payment<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Pension Age Disability Payment<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance<\/strong> (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Severe Disablement Allowance<\/strong> (transitionally protected)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Mobility Supplement<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Widowed Mother\u2019s Allowance<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Widowed Parent\u2019s Allowance<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Widow\u2019s Pension<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance<\/strong> (after the first 13 weeks of claim)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Incapacity Benefit<\/strong> (at the long-term rate)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
While the payment remains unchanged, eligible recipients do not need to apply, as it is issued automatically to those meeting the criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lack of adjustment to the Christmas Bonus<\/strong> reflects a DWP<\/strong> policy that prioritises maintaining existing benefits<\/strong> rather than increasing them in line with inflation<\/strong>. While this symbolic<\/strong> payment continues to be issued to eligible recipients, its purchasing power<\/strong> has significantly diminished over the decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No DWP<\/strong> review is planned, leaving it as a one-off support payment<\/strong> with a limited financial impact amid rising living costs.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed there are no plans to increase the \u00a310 Christmas Bonus. Introduced in 1972, the payment has not been adjusted despite inflation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":103265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103285,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103264\/revisions\/103285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}