We need to change the way we talk about benefits if we’re ever going to rebuild trust in the system

“It makes you feel worthless.” At Turn2us, we work closely with people facing financial insecurity, and that’s what they’re telling us about the way politicians and the media talk about our social security system.    

Most of us will need support from our social security system at some point in our lives – when we have children, face a drop in income, retire or go through major life changes. At its best, social security helps people through these moments and acts as a springboard to rebuild. But, too often, a complicated and punitive system drags people deeper into hardship and makes them feel ashamed for needing help. 

Current policies mean that the system is unnecessarily confusing and exhausting to navigate. But before people have even started trying to access the support they need, people are made to feel unworthy by the language we hear from politicians and the media.

• Disabled people have spent years being attacked as spongers. Labour’s benefit cuts are no different
• I’m a disabled person claiming benefits – and I’ve lost all hope in the Labour government
• Mum-of-two shares experience of ‘dehumanising’ DWP benefits system: ‘It could kill somebody’

For years, the words used by politicians and the media to discuss social security has shaped public attitudes in damaging ways. Misleading claims about widespread misuse dominate the conversation, despite fraud accounting for less than 3% of claims and the fact that there are millions of families struggling to afford the essentials. Policy and debates continue to focus on suspicion rather than removing the barriers that hold people back.

Recent Turn2us polling found that more than three quarters of UK adults  believe it would be challenging to access support if their circumstances changed. Half said that feelings of shame and unworthiness would stop people from making a claim at all. It cannot be right that people do not feel able to access support when they need it most. 

The consequences can be severe. When people go without support, it leads to families skipping meals, turning off their heating and falling behind on rent.  The stress takes a serious toll on mental and physical health, with knock-on consequences for employment.

Even when people do access support, the stigma can have a deep and lasting impact. One person told us: “you don’t feel a part of the society or the right part of society, the right group.” Another said: “you’re constantly made for feel that you’re a burden”. 

All of this has eroded trust. In our latest YouGov polling, only 6% of people said the way politicians talk about benefit claimants increases trust in the benefits system. Nearly half of people claiming support said they want media and politicians to speak about them more fairly. People simply want to be represented truthfully and treated with respect, not judgement.

Turn2us is working alongside organisations across our sector and beyond, building on work from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Frameworks and Save the Children, to shift these public narratives. This week, we are publishing two practical guides shaped by people with direct experience of the system to help policymakers and reporters improve how social security is discussed and understood.

This work matters because language influences policy, and policy shapes people’s lives. When we speak about social security as a vital public service, we help build support for fairer and more compassionate systems. We move beyond the idea of “deserving” and “undeserving” and towards a shared understanding that most of us will need support at some point in our lives.

Therefore, as we get closer to the expected votes on cuts to disability benefits and the public debate ramps up, we are calling on journalists and policymakers on all sides of the debate to read and share our new guides and consider how they describe these issues. Whatever we think about the right way to modernise our social security system, we can all make sure our language doesn’t fuel shame and helps build an understanding of this vital public service. 

Stigma is not inevitable, it is shaped by the policies we create and the stories we tell. If we want to rebuild trust, we must start with the language we use.

Lucy Bannister is head of policy and influencing at Turn2us.Read the guides here.

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