Bereavement support “shockingly inadequate”: WAY member’s plea to Chancellor Reeves

January 2026

WAY member Caroline’s household income dropped by 75% overnight when her husband died of cancer last year, leaving her to raise two teenage children on her own. She was stunned to find out that Bereavement Support Payments only lasted 18 months and were “shockingly inadequate” for herself and thousands of other bereaved families across the UK.

Caroline has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves and set up a petition calling for urgent change. Here’s an edited version of Caroline’s letter…

“I was widowed in May 2025 after losing my husband to cancer. I am in my mid-40s with two teenage children. Last year, I gave up a lifelong, successful career to care for my husband during his illness. Since his passing, I have returned to work full-time – just two days after his death – but in a much lower-paid remote role so I can balance employment with caring for my children.

Despite working full-time, my income is now less than 25% of what our combined household income was a year ago. This is through no fault of my own. My husband paid higher-rate income tax and National Insurance all his life, yet the financial support available to bereaved families is shockingly inadequate.

Bereavement Support Payment – A broken system

Bereavement Support Payments (BSP) were drastically reduced in 2017, replacing Widowed Parent’s Allowance, which provided weekly payments until Child Benefit ceased. Today, newly widowed parents receive support for just 18 months – a short-term lifeline that does not reflect the long-term financial and emotional impact of losing a partner.

To make matter worse, BSP has not been uprated since 2017 and is now worth £3,726.49 less in real terms for bereaved families with children. Labour MPs have raised concerns that BSP is not linked to the cost of living, yet the issue continues to be ignored in successive budgets.

Supporting a child through bereavement while rebuilding a shattered life is relentless. From breaking the news that destroys their childhood, to managing grief, anxiety, school, homework and household responsibilities alone – while navigating endless admin (mortgages, pensions, HMRC, insurance) – the burden is overwhelming, all while working and grieving yourself losing your life partner.

Financial stability disappears overnight. Many widowed parents cannot earn anywhere near the salary of the deceased partner, leaving families at risk of poverty. Specialist mental health support for children is scarce and costly. Universal Credit (UC) takes five weeks to process and excludes housing help for homeowners, pushing families further into crisis.

Why this matters

You have spoken passionately about removing the two-child benefit cap because it “punishes children”. I agree children should never bear the brunt of circumstances beyond their control. But bereaved children are being punished every day by inadequate support.

If Labour truly wants to back working families and protect children from hardship, reforming Bereavement Support Payment must be a priority – not an afterthought.

I am asking you to:

Raise Bereavement Support Payment and extend it beyond 18 months.
Link BSP to the cost of living.

I have launched a petition on this issue, which has already gathered more than 10,000 signatures: Raise Bereavement Support Payment and extend beyond 18 months

I am a member of the national charity WAY – Widowed and Young, which has been campaigning on this issue for nearly a decade. We cannot understand why this issue continues to be ignored. Your leadership could change that.”

Support Caroline’s petition

How WAY is standing up for bereaved families

WAY Widowed and Young has been standing up for bereaved families for the past 29 years, successfully campaigning to extend bereavement payments to cohabiting couples in 2023.

For more than ten years, we have also been calling for Bereavement Support Payments to be extended and uprated in line with inflation. So far, our calls for action have fallen on deaf ears.

We are pleased to see that WAY member Caroline is taking up this cause and urge all WAY members and supporters to sign her petition and write to their MPs using the template letter below.

Write to your MP today