DWP Bank Holiday update for UK households getting benefits and pension payments

While households across the UK benefited from income boosts in April, energy, water, and council tax bills also soared. Benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rose by 1.7% while the state pension increased by 4.1%.

Meanwhile, the minimum wage increased by 6.7% which gave workers a pay rise of £1,400. However, the Labour government recently announced cuts of £5m to the welfare system. The changes will see Universal Credit rates change next year alongside a tightening of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) criteria.

As reported by the Independent, there will be some changes to payments in May due to the Bank Holidays. If you were due to get your benefit on May 26, you will likely now receive it on May 23.

These benefit payments include Universal Credit, state pension, pension credit, child benefit and carer's allowance. People who claim "legacy benefits" will be moved to Universal Credit by January 2026.

The basic state pension is paid straight into bank accounts every four weeks. The exact date you are paid corresponds to the last two digits of your national insurance (NI) number.

Those with numbers 00 to 19 are paid on a Monday, 20 to 39 on a Tuesday and 40 to 59 on a Wednesday. Meanwhile, digits 60 to 79 are paid on a Thursday and 80 to 99 on a Friday.

The latest figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation show that 14.3 million people in the UK were in poverty in 2022/23. This equates to over one in five of the population.

Of this number, 8.1 million people were working-age adults and 4.3 million were children. Meanwhile, 1.9 million of the people in poverty were pensioners.

All benefits increased by 1.7% last month to match inflation. The State Pension also rose by £472 a year (4.1%) in line with the triple lock.

People who claim Universal Credit will see a one-off above-inflation rise from £91 to £98 a week from April 2026. However, the rate of the additional health element will be frozen until 2029/30.