According to Department for Work and Pensions data examined by the Labour party, single females with at least one dependent child make up over 85% of all householders who have had their benefits capped.

Records show that 134,044 households have had support capped by the government, with single mothers accounting for 114,337 of those. They appear to show a significant jump from August last year, when nearly 50,000 single parents were reportedly facing a drop in benefits due to the cap.

The benefit cap, which limits the total amount households can receive in benefits to £20,000 a year, or £23,000 in Greater London, was envisaged as an “incentive” to persuade unemployed people to move into work.