Universal Credit

A new pamphlet on the new Universal Credit (UC) benefit, Universal credit — will it work?, explains how the new benefit risks failing unless key adjustments are made.

Written for the TUC by the Child Poverty Action Group, the pamphlet gives an overview of the new benefit, focusing particularly on the differences between UC and the current system. It then looks briefly at the timeline for UC’s introduction, before turning to an examination of the new benefit’s aims.

It points out that UC will be launched in the face of a weak economy, characterised as much by underemployment as unemployment — a real challenge for a benefit whose success is premised on people moving into (more) work.

And it analyses weaknesses in the model itself, saying that if the new benefit really wants to simplify life for claimants, it needs to recognise that many complexities will remain in the UC system, and that steps will need to be taken to address these.

www.tuc.org.uk/tucfiles/586/TUCcpag-report.pdf