Newfangled Universal Credit In The UK Currently Unhelpful In Protecting The Poor

Backlit by a low sun, the silhouette of a man helping to pull another up a hill

The concept of social assistance evolved from the idea of the strong aiding the weak. These days, it's sometimes difficult to tell if the person above is pulling . . . or pushing.

Many countries have benefit payment schemes that help those with low or no income to survive. One might prefer to say ‘survive and prosper,’ but that seldom if ever seems to be the target objective.

Not so long ago, a person in the United Kingdom was eligible to apply for some or all of:

    • Child Tax Credit
    • Housing Benefit
    • Income Support
    • income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
    • income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
    • Working Tax Credit

Wouldn’t it be more economical to wrap up the bureaucracy of such a set of payments into one single payment? The government thought so, and created ‘Universal Credit.’

There has been, however, a major flaw in this new streamlined payment. What is the minimum amount needed by an individual/family that will pay for basic financial supports covered in the bullet points above (Heaven forbid it be anything but the MINIMUM needed to lift an individual/family out of poverty.)?

And not surprisingly, (it seeming to be the way of the world), those receiving Universal Credit are protesting that it falls well below the minimum needed for ongoing survival.

In order to clarify some of the unknowns, an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has followed up these claims and just published a report. It details the issues and inadequacies of current attempts to ‘fix’ social security in the UK — all somewhat problematic as the report also finds that the UK Government really doesn’t have a clue what the minimum adequate supports actually are.

The minimum support needed is not a complete mystery. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation publishes a report on this subject every two years. Try: Poverty May Mean Hardship. Beyond Poverty, Destitution Is Life-Threatening

A headline in inews1sums up the heart of problem: Universal credit is ‘too low to cover basics’ and should keep up with high inflation rates, MPs say

Those who don’t have a subscription to inews, and/or are interested in the APPG’s inquiry, can read more at APPG on Poverty News: Enough To Be Able To Live, Not Just Survive: A Report By The APPG On Poverty Following It’s Inquiry Into The (In)Adequacy Of Social Security

It should be noted that while the All Party Parliamentary Group consists of members of Parliament, the APPG is a voluntary group from all parties, and its reports carry no weight of law.

Footnotes

  1. inews is paywalled.