England has passed a law changing the Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA), due to go into effect in April. The WPA previously afforded benefits to widowed parents until the youngest child left school. The new legislation will reduce the length of time to only eighteen months. This is estimated to reduce total benefits per person by 12,000 pounds. The government rationale for this action is to reduce costs, arguing that in the past, a widow depended on her spouse for financial support. This is no longer true in today’s world.

Read more: How widowed parents are being hit again by Tory cuts to bereavement benefits – The Independent