"I can't think of another scenario where we say ... 'Here's a group who are really doing it tough, so let's make the 'kind of okay' people suffer more'," a critic says.

The changes will boost support for more than 100,000 families, and leave 80,000 worse off.

"I can't think of another scenario where we say ... 'Here's a group who are really doing it tough, so let's make the 'kind of okay' people suffer more'," a critic says.