What was in the November 2025 Budget

Woman standing in front of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament with stacks of British banknotes.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP announced the Budget on Wednesday 26 November.

A man in a suit writing in a notebook with a stack of £20 notes on a clipboard.

The Budget is the plan of how the Government will spend money and how it will raise it.

You can learn more about it with our What is the Budget? easy read .

Things we liked in this Budget

An envelope with money sticking out with the word wages written on it, next to a green arrow pointing up.

The National Living Wage is going up to £12.71 per hour from April 2026.

This means people who are aged 21 or over who have a job will get paid at least £12.71 per hour.

A green arrow pointing up next to graphics representing Carer's allowance and Personal Independence Payment

Some benefits will go up from April 2026.

They will go up by 3.8%. This means for every £100 in benefits someone gets, from April they will get an extra £3.80.

We think this is a good thing because it will help with the cost of living.

Hands holding a variety of coins with multiple bracelets on the wrists.

But we want to see the Minimum Income Guarantee go up as well.

The Minimum Income Guarantee is the amount of money the government says people should be left with if they pay for their social care .

We have an easy read about the Minimum Income Guarantee with more information.

A woman is holding her purse upside down looking for money but there is no money left

If the Minimum Income Guarantee stays the same, people are at risk of losing the extra benefit money because they could be asked to pay more for their social care.

We want the government to put the Minimum Income Guarantee up so people with a learning disability who get social care can keep more of their benefits.

Department for Work & Pensions PIP Points cover page with six images illustrating daily activities next to a Man checking his wristwatch with a stopwatch and a red checkmark in the background.

We liked the plans to make Personal Independent Payment (PIP) awards longer.

This means people who get PIP will not have to go to as many meetings to say why they need it. These meetings are called reassessments.

Two women on phone calls; one in a floral top smiling, the other in the background focused next to A man and a woman in an office setting with a thought bubble showing a saucepan.

It is good that people will have a choice of having their PIP reassessments in person or over the phone.

A woman with three children on a sofa with a graphic showing Universal Credit behind them

We think it's good the two-child benefit cap will end in April 2026.

Right now parents can only claim Universal Credit or Tax Credits for two children. When the cap ends parents will be able to get benefits for more than two children.

Man holding gas bill in front of a white gas boiler next to a green arrow pointing down

The government said energy bills should go down from next year.

A woman with a folder standing in front of a building and a woman in overalls looking in a tool box.

Small and medium businesses will be able to give people under the age of 25 free apprenticeship training.

An apprenticeship is a paid job where you learn new skills and study at the same time to get qualifications while you work.