Closed petition Increase unemployment benefits to match furlough scheme backdated to March 2020

Closed on 16 December 2021

Benefits for all those made unemployed since March 2020 should be increased to match the furlough scheme, and payments should be backdated to March 2020 or whenever they lost their job, whichever is later.

I lost my job in March 2020 and my employer did not furlough me and unlike me, employers have received financial support including tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of pounds in some cases. The Government have made commitments to " leave no one behind". Considering Government policies have left me £40k out of pocket (as they didn't force companies to give furlough to anyone who asked for it), I feel very much left behind, as will many who have lost their job since this pandemic started. The maximum of £411 per month on Universal Credit, even with the temporary £20 uplift, pails into insignificance in comparison to the furlough scheme which is up to £2.5k a month. This must change and this increase in benefits be backdated.