Government should increase benefit levels to allow healthy living, says trust

A coalition of 66 UK non-governmental organisations, including the BMA, is calling on the government to review current methods of assessing poverty.

Current methods of determining acceptable rates of benefits and pensions do not reflect the costs of living healthily in the United Kingdom, says the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, a Christian organisation that, as an umbrella body, includes representatives from Age Concern, Barnardo's, and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

The government sets minimum levels for benefits without giving adequate weight to the price of goods and services people have to buy, the trust says in a report that was due to be presented …