The £10 Christmas bonus is under fire again, with further calls for it to be scrapped. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) hands out the money annually in December, which costs taxpayers an estimated £186million to maintain. 

The payment is made to people in receipt of certain benefits, such as the state pension, Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and various disability benefits, with the amount remaining largely unchanged since it was introduced in 1972. At the time, the bonus was brought in as a temporary measure to offset low pension payments during a period of high inflation, and offered a meaningful boost to incomes. Now, £10 barely covers the cost of a few basic items.

Telegraph writer James Baxter-Derrington has reignited the debate, arguing that the country can no longer justify funding the festive handout.

He wrote: “This sum is now paid to more than 18 million people in the country – more than a quarter of the population – and comes at a cost of around £186 million.”

He argued that while some claim the bonus should rise in line with inflation, doing so would add billions to public spending at a time when state pensions are already at historic highs due to the triple lock, along with other benefit upratings.

Mr Baxter-Derrington suggested scrapping the payment would be the more reasonable option, adding: “Even if you were to conjure some moral argument for offering more than a quarter of the country a taxpayer-funded Christmas present, it is obvious that we do not live in a nation that can afford such a thing.”

Britain is projected to face an annual welfare bill of around £406billion by 2029-30, with one in every four pounds spent by the Government going toward benefits by the end of this Parliament.

With the UK tax burden soaring to another record high after measures announced in Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget in November, the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Callum Price previously warned that the “ever-growing welfare state built on the backs of ordinary working people will not last long.”

Several petitions have been launched over the past few years calling for a larger Christmas Bonus from the DWP, arguing that if the £10 payment amount had kept pace with inflation, it would now be worth more than £100.

The latest running petition calls for the Bonus to be uprated to at least £180, arguing that “£10 today won’t even buy a round of drinks, wouldn’t pay for a quality Christmas pudding or buy a box of decent Christmas Crackers.”

The petition organiser, David Angus Kirkwood, added: “£10 quite frankly is insulting.”

The petition has garnered over 4,000 signatures since its launch last month. Once it reaches 10,000 signatures, the petition will receive a Government response. At 100,000 signatures, the topic will be put up for debate in Parliament.

Who is eligible for the DWP’s Christmas Bonus?

The £10 bonus is paid to people who receive certain benefits in a specified qualifying week, which is normally the first full week of December. This year, qualifying week fell between December 1 and December 7.

People do not need to claim the bonus; it will be automatically deposited into the bank accounts of those eligible. To get a Christmas Bonus, people must be present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week.

You must also get at least one of the following benefits in the qualifying week:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Child Disability Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
• Disability Living Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
• Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
• Mobility Supplement
• Pension Credit – the guarantee element
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
• Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
• Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
• War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
• War Widow’s Pension
• Widowed Mother’s Allowance
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance
• Widow’s Pension.