The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a response to an online petition calling for the Christmas bonus to be raised from £10 to £165 after more than 20,600 people lent their signatures to the cause. The plea highlights the struggle faced by millions who receive this payment—a fixture since its introduction by the government in 1972 but unchanged in value ever since, reports the Express.

Initiator of the campaign, Shona McMahon commented: “Christmas is THE most expensive time of the year! Pensioners, the vulnerable and people like myself, disabled, could do with an extra boost at this time of year, especially as the energy assistance has been axed.”

The DWP has addressed these concerns, with a spokesperson saying: “We are taking immediate action to turn around the dire inheritance we face – with more people living in poverty now than 14 years ago.”

Mentioning measures such as extending the Household Support Fund, initiating plans to lessen child poverty, and steps towards enacting a true living wage. Meanwhile, it’s noteworthy that McMahon’s appeal isn’t a lone voice—another similar petition on the Parliamentary website, although now closed, had also advocated for an inflation-adjusted increment of the Christmas bonus.

The statement reads: “The Christmas bonus was introduced in 1972. Since then, inflation has lowered the cost of the pound significantly, yet the £10 number remained the same.

“With inflation taken into account, the bonus should actually be around £130. We want the Government to account for inflation in these payments. The DWP Christmas bonus for benefit claimants is a measly £10 – hardly enough to cover the costs associated with holidays.

“It is almost insulting to be presented with an amount of money this small – the equivalent of 76p before inflation – when many of us are already living hand to mouth and in constant fear of getting our benefits reassessed or revoked. Disabled and low-income people deserve better.”